High Noon
by ReddHerring
Summary: A dark telling of what could have been after the events of Eclipse. The Volturi come to Forks and it does not end well. I have tried to stay true to the characters as Stephenie wrote them.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first attempt at fan fiction, and I just thought I should pause before the story to explain myself because the story jumps around an awful lot. I will be using several different characters' point of views so that you can hear the whole story. The events I am telling are meant to take place after _Eclipse_, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed _Breaking Dawn_ immensely, but I couldn't help but wonder what if…

I am not sure what rating to give the story, there is going to be some fairly explicit romance scenes, and quite a lot of dark, hopeless events (but hopefully not too many, there will be some flashbacks to let in rays of light). I think it will be safer for us all if I give it an M rating.

Before we begin, a disclaimer, none of these characters belong to me; I could only wish to someday come close to what Stephenie has achieved.

And with no further delay, let's begin our tale and join our hero in a very dark, very unhappy, and utterly hopeless situation…

Chapter 1: Bachelor Party

**Edward's Point of View**

I pushed my forehead against the wall and closed my eyes. The cold, damp stones of the wall would have bothered anyone else, but I was not just anyone. I was a monster. The truest, most vile, beastliest wretch that had ever suffered the earth with its existence. I deserved any misery that I was given. I had pulled the angel down from the brightness of heaven, and exposed her to this hell. It was all my fault, if ever a creature lived that was more selfish and pitiless than I, then I had never heard of its like. I opened my eyes, eyes so black that they could not be distinguished from the ever present darkness of the cell. The scenes that I saw when my eyes closed were more disturbing than my current reality. But those brief glimpses of a time not so long ago could not be pushed aside, and I remembered…

* * *

The night before the wedding, Emmett and Jasper had taken me out hunting.

'Come on Edward, this is your last night of freedom, let loose and have some fun.' Jasper said as he hauled my away from Bella's window.

I growled lightly. 'You think dragging me away from Bella is my idea of fun?'

'That's your idea of fun?' Emmett pushed me ahead of them. 'Sitting in a rocking chair watching your girlfriend sleep? I can think of a lot more things to do in your girlfriend's bedroom that better fit the definition of fun. Just the other night Rose and I…'

Jasper took a swipe at Emmett and he had to duck out of the way. 'We all heard what you and Rose were doing the other night, we don't need an encore performance.'

Emmett shrugged. 'It was a good time, I can't help it if things get a little out of hand at times, have you ever _looked_ at Rose?'

I sighed at Emmett and started to run, my brothers keeping pace behind me. 'Emmett, getting out of hand is the understatement of the century.' I snorted with disbelief as I remembered the other night, I was sitting at my piano. I had thought playing Bella's lullaby would help me to write my wedding vows, when Emmett and Rosalie's bed had come crashing to the ground outside the window. 'Do you know how much effort it took to block out your thoughts the following morning when you two were strutting around practically screaming the events of the night?' Emmett roared with laughter, and when I glanced back he gave me a wink and a proud smile.

By then, we were well outside the limits of Forks and we slowed to discuss where we would hunt. At least that's what I thought the conversation would entail. Instead Jasper and Emmett stood side by side, arms crossed over their chests, grinning smugly at me. I didn't like their unified front, and my eyes narrowed.

'Edward, big brother, we need to have the Talk.' Emmett's grin grew wider. I shook my head in disbelief, I had heard the capital T in Talk, and I knew what was coming. 'I can't believe you two think this is necessary, I've been to medical school twice and I have access to all the thoughts of everyone, don't you think I realize what happens?'

Jasper frowned and turned to Emmett. 'Emmett, did you know that Edward has two medical degrees?' Emmett's eyes opened wide in shock and he spoke each word slowly. 'Why no Jasper, I had never heard that.' I groaned. 'Emmett, you have got to be the worst actor I have ever seen, and that is saying a lot…I've been going to high school now for over 50 years.'

They both took a step closer to me, arms still folded. 'We're serious Edward, as your brothers we feel obligated to let you know what you're up against. Your first time can be awkward and scary.' Emmett snorted and rolled his eyes. 'That's not the way I remember it, but most of us haven't been holding onto all of our teenage sexual tension for the past hundred years. Not to mention that you are about to get it on with your girlfriend who smells like a 5 star dinner.'

I dropped to the ground and studied the grass in front of me intently, and softly spoke. 'I know it's not going to be easy, but it's so important to her, to have this particular human experience.' I couldn't believe I was being so forthcoming about something so personal, and to my brothers of all people, but I was so worried about the prospect of what was to come after the wedding that I just needed to talk about it. 'I'll never forgive myself if something happens to her, if I do something to her.'

'Tanya and her sisters do this all the time Edward, it is something that can be done safely.' Jasper raised his eyebrow and laughed a little. 'True, you have nowhere near their experience, but I think your feelings for Bella will make up for that. Alice doesn't see Bella getting hurt, and that's good enough for me.'

My brothers began to discuss the finer points of positions, the best one liners for the occasion, and what I should definitely not say. Emmett didn't see anything wrong with yelling yeehaw, and I swore that Jasper was approaching the whole situation like it was some sort of perverse military encounter.

I winced, knowing that if I could blush my face would be brighter than any shade I'd seen Bella wear. I thought back to Jasper's earlier words, and the thought of Alice seeing That particular future was not something I was happy about. But if she had seen Bella come out of the night all right…I would not bet against Alice…

* * *

But that had happened when I was still happy, when I still foolishly thought that my selfish desires could be fulfilled and no one would get hurt. Before They had come…but now I knew far, far better.

.


	2. Chapter 2

Well here is chapter 2. Now that I've stopped and looked at it, it seems I will never get the hang of writing fan fiction. The first chapter is much too short, and now I've drastically overcompensated and this next chapter is very looong. Please let me know if you like it!

Chapter 2: Wedding Bells

**Bella's Point of View**

I glanced to my side at Alice, and she picked up my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Her eyes were black as the darkest night with thirst, as were mine, but I knew she was determined to remain strong for me. Heidi marched the string of unsuspecting tourists toward the tower room. I hated Heidi. I hated her gaudy makeup, I hated her provocative clothes, I hated her derisive stare which she saved just for me. I watched, though I did not want to. How many times I had seen this ghastly parade I could not remember. But each time, the same horror and rage still filled me. I was glad. I knew that once those feelings faded, that is when I would be in trouble.

My throat burned with an unquenchable thirst as the oblivious victims filed past. I closed my eyes, my fists digging into my thighs. I _had_ to resist. Alice put her arm around my shoulders, restraining and comforting me at the same time. These people were someone's wife, their husband or mother or father. The Vultori had no right! I knew that had I still been human, tears would have been stinging my eyes.

I remembered the first time that we had witnessed this event, Aro had been giving us a tour of our new home. I growled low in my throat at the memory of his use of the word home. When Heidi led her prizes past us in the hall, he had feigned surprise and had chided Heidi for her bad timing. But over the next day, and the next, Alice and I quickly learned that it had been no accident. Every time Heidi rounded up a bunch of unsuspecting victims, we were forced to watch their parade to the tower room. And even though we were each allowed out separately with Alec and Felix to feed on animals (Aro had promised that he would not give us every comfort that we were used to, and vowed that he would let us observe our silly aversion to human blood), we were forced to act as audience to this grisly scene. I am sure Aro felt that one day we would simply give up our ridiculous ways and fall into line, giving into our natural thirst.

Alice had grown furious when she realized that I was being let out to feed only half as often as she was. She had spoken angrily to Aro about this matter, but he had brushed her concerns aside and said that I only felt I was getting fed less because I was so knew to the thirst. That I was not as used to the Cullen's abnormal feeding habits as Alice. I knew his wish was that I give in to my thirst.

I gritted my teeth and strengthened my resolve, I hoped he was used to disappointment. I frowned and turned that phrase over in my head. I hoped he was used to disappointment…suddenly I gasped with a long forgotten memory. Those were the exact words which Edward had spoken to me, so long ago, when he had still been insistent that he would stay away from me. Oh Edward…

* * *

On the morning of my wedding I was woken by a vampire. I threw my pillow at Alice, she easily caught it and placed it on the rocking chair, frowning at me. This was not the particular vampire that I was hoping to see right now. Emmett and Jasper had stolen Edward from me last night and I hadn't seen him since.

I groaned and rolled away from Alice, covering my face with my blankets. 'I didn't get any sleep last night, can I just stay in bed half an hour more?' She ripped the blankets off the bed, leaving them neatly folded on top of the pillow on my rocking chair. 'Come on Bella.' Alice tapped her tiny foot impatiently. 'Do you have any idea how many things we have to do today?' She grimaced and spoke to herself. 'Well, of course you don't, you've never listened to any of my planning sessions.'

'Alice? Just answer one thing for me.' I hid my face in the crook of my arm, blinking away from the sun. 'I am the bride, and today is my wedding day, right?' I could hear her exasperated sigh and the tapping on the floor increased to a faster tempo. 'Of course you are the bride Bella, of course today is your wedding day.'

I lowered my arm and glowered at Alice. 'Ok, then shouldn't I get to sleep in for 30 more minutes on my special day?' I did not like the look that Alice gave me. Before I could even blink I was in Alice's arms and halfway to the bathroom. She set me upright in front of the shower.

'Let's go Bella. I've given you showers before, I have no problem helping out again.' I sighed theatrically. 'All right, all right, I'll do it on my own.'

Alice smiled. 'Good.' She leaned up and kissed me lightly on the cheek. 'You have 5 minutes.' She skipped from the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I quickly turned on the water, hoping it heated up fast. I had heard that same tone in Alice's voice before and knew that she meant exactly 5 minutes and not a second more.

Just as I had predicted, Alice was outside the bathroom door waiting for me precisely 5 minutes after she had left. She quickly ushered me down the stairs, grabbing the towel out of my still wet hair. 'Don't worry about your hair Bella, Rose and I will take care of that later. Now sit and have something to eat, I just finished making breakfast'

Charlie was already at the table, with what looked like half a dozen eggs on his plate, I frowned when I realized the other half dozen were on mine. He smiled sheepishly at me. 'Alice got here just after I woke up, I'm sorry Bella but I haven't been able to stop her. She's already handed me a strict scheduling of today's events.'

I rolled my eyes at Charlie. He wasn't fooling me, he'd probably jump off a cliff if Alice asked him to.

'Bella…please start eating.' Alice furrowed her brow. 'We should have been in the car a minute ago.'

'Really Alice, you must have raided a chicken farm for all these eggs, and you expect me to have eaten everything in one bite?' I grudgingly took a few bites, and then put down my fork. Really, I was starting to feel queasy. Now that this day was actually here, everything seemed so much more real.

I was going to be married. I was only 18. Much too young to be a Mrs. But a Mrs. Cullen…I blushed furiously at the thought that Edward loved me enough to marry me. Obviously, to Edward marriage meant much more than it did to me. If this is what it took to make him realize that I was not going to wake up and run screaming from him, that I really wanted to be with him forever, then I would stop dragging my feet.

'Honestly Bella.' I was pretty sure if Charlie had not been sitting right there, Alice would have swept me up and carried me to the car. 'My schedule...' Her eyes were starting to get a very panicked look and her tone was pleading.

'Right.' I pushed my chair back from the table and leapt up, then downed the glass of juice Alice had set in front of me earlier. 'It won't do to have the bride walk down the aisle with her hair still in curlers.'

I was already pulling on my boots at the front door when I noticed Alice hadn't left her spot in the kitchen. Her and Charlie were both staring at me, mouths slightly gaping open.

I put my hand on the door knob and raised an eyebrow. 'Alice? Are you coming? You can't just stand in my kitchen all day, there's so much to do!'

Alice shook her spiky head as if coming out of a daze and drifted over to me. She looked back at Charlie once, and he just shook his head as if to say he had no idea how the aliens would have had the time to abduct me and replace me with a look alike in that short a time.

We were in the car and speeding toward the Cullen's house before anyone spoke.

I kept looking over my shoulder, wishing that a particular silver Volvo would magically appear behind us. 'Alice?' She glanced sideways at me, still shocked by my new 'go get 'em' attitude. 'Did Edw…did the boys come back last night?'

'No, I didn't notice them come in. And you better not run off and try to find him today. Jasper and Emmett are under strict instructions to keep Edward away from my bedroom for the entire day, and Edward is under pain of torture to keep his eavesdropping mind out of all of ours. I want you to be a complete surprise to Edward until he sees you walking down the aisle.'

I sighed, some of my earlier enthusiasm fading. First Edward was taken from me last night, and now I would not be able to see him until later tonight. It was amazing how I still suffered when we were not together. I had always imagined that the intense longing I felt for him would fade with time, but it had never lessened an inch. It was perhaps now stronger than ever before.

Alice gasped beside me, her face blank.

Edward! If something had happened to him I could not survive, what if the Volturi had come looking for me and found him and his brothers first? What if Victoria had a sister and she had come looking for revenge…

Alice's mouth was stretched in a tight line as the turn off to the house came into view. 'Your future just disappeared.'

The reason was readily apparent for this, as Jacob stood next to the drive, watching as we pulled up. Alice opened her window. 'Jacob, Bella doesn't really have time for this, you know what today is and she is on a very tight schedule.' I put my hand on her shoulder. 'It's ok Alice, just give me 10 minutes and I will be on extra good behavior for the rest of the day.' I was out the door before she could protest.

Jacob's features were pulled into a nervous smile as he watched me leave the car. I knew Edward had sent him the wedding invitation, and that he had disappeared shortly after. Billy couldn't tell me where he had gone, but he seemed to think that Jacob would return when he was ready.

'Hey Bells…' His smile was even more uncertain now that I stood in front of him. 'Will you walk with me?'

I frowned, though inwardly I was ecstatic to see my best friend again. 'Sure.'

We fell into step beside each other, every move an awkward mockery of our former closeness. His hands were balled into fists at his sides, his eyes looking straight ahead, his legs stiff as he walked.

When we turned a bend in the road and could no longer see Alice and the car, he put his huge hand out tentatively, blocking my way.

I couldn't take the silence for one more second. 'Oh Jake, I'm so sorry that I've caused you so much pain, I was so selfish to keep you in my life when it made you suffer so much.'

He finally turned and looked at me, and his eyes were fathomless, ancient and sad. 'Please stop Bells, you always did blame yourself too much. I was well aware of the situation, I knew what I was getting into by keeping you close.' He closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

'Jacob, I…'

He cut me off, his voice pleading. 'Please Bella, just listen.'

I folded my arms across my chest, a tear falling from my eye as I realized just how much pain I would always cause my best friend just from being near him. His hand was up in a flash, catching my tear before it fell too far. He let his hand linger on my cheek, and I was surprised that I had forgotten how warm he was. After a moment he took his hand from my cheek, letting his fingers fall slowly away.

'My pain is nothing compared with yours. The whole reason I came back is that I knew you would feel guilty for my disappearance, that you would somehow blame yourself. As if the blame should ever fall on you, all you've done is be happy. Which is what I've always wanted for you. I don't want you to feel any more guilt for my pain.' He tried to smile again, failing utterly as his face crumpled. He murmured, 'And if he is really the reason for your happiness, then I am not going to stand in the way. I want you to be happy, Bella, truly happy, I don't want you to always be thinking in the back of your head that you can't be happy because of poor sad Jacob.'

He laughed and the sound was hollow, dead. 'I came here to give you my blessing to marry your bloodsucker…er sorry, Edward.' The name came out like it was the vilest swear word Jacob knew.

'I know I'm not doing a very good job of it right now, but please understand Bella. I am going to try to move on, I am going to try to be happy with whatever the world has left for me. His voice choked off and I flung myself against his chest, tears falling down my face. His arms wrapped around me, holding me close to him. 'Jake, I wish you would, I wish you could be happy. That's all I've ever wanted for you too, for you to be happy. And I'm so sorry that I can't be that person to make you happy. But you know that Edward is my whole world.' He flinched when I said Edward's name and disentangled himself from my arms.

He took a step away, smiling ruefully. 'Somewhere, something in the universe went horribly wrong to push the two of us together the way it did. But for a short while, I was your sun, and for that I will take all the pain in the world, and suffer it gladly.' He lifted his hand in farewell, his eyes red, voice low. 'I'm sorry to have saved this talk for your wedding day. But I will try to move on and be happy, for you.' He took another step away from me, and turned to look back one last time. 'Goodbye Bella.'

My tears stifled the strangled goodbye I yelled after his back, he had disappeared into the forest. I walked slowly back to Alice, my eyes blinded with tears. I truly hoped Jacob would make good on his promise and try to find happiness. I was happy I got to see him today, even if the meeting was not a happy one. I swiped at my eyes, then suddenly my foot caught on a rock and I pitched forward, rushing toward the ground.

I couldn't understand why my face wasn't planted in the dirt when I blinked and realized that I was cradled in someone's arms, someone's very hard, very cold arms. I looked up, and Edward was smiling lovingly down at me. He leaned down and kissed both of my eyes. I reached my arms up to hug him. 'I thought you were hunting with…'

He shushed me by putting one pale finger to his lips. 'Quietly Bella.' He spoke softly, and I gazed at his face in rapt attention. 'We were on our way back and I just had a feeling that you needed me. Call it a vampire's 6th sense if you like, a special ability for us to catch up with our human fiancée's in their exact moment of need.'

I laughed quietly and whispered back, 'Why Edward Cullen, you were spying on me from the woods.' He chuckled quietly, looking just a little ashamed with himself, but not near ashamed enough. 'So what if I was?' His eyes glinted mischievously. 'I have good reason to look out for you, my fiancée happens to be a danger magnet.' His eyes bore into mine, his voice a velvet purr. 'I will never let you fall Bella, I will always be here to catch you.' He leaned down and pressed his cold stone lips to mine.

Suddenly he jerked up, fear evident in his features. 'Oh no.'

'Edward!!' Alice came stomping furious around the bend in the road. He winced and I suddenly laughed. I could only imagine what furious thoughts Alice must be assaulting him with right now. 'You promised!'

Right at that moment Emmett came hurtling out of the woods like a grizzly, wood cracking after him. His eyes popped wide open in surprise, or maybe dread, as he saw the scene before him.

'Alice, I swear, Jasper and I turned our backs for one second and he was gone! We came after him but you know he is faster than we are…' He threw a desperate glance back into the trees and roared 'Jasper! Get out here damn you, don't throw me to the lions and hide in the trees!'

Jasper came slinking out of the trees, head down, eyes averted from enraged Alice. 'Sorry Alice', he murmured, making sure never to look directly at her.

I couldn't blame him, the looks Alice was throwing his way would have turned a lesser being into stone on the spot.

'I ask you two to do one simple thing for me! I've planned this whole wedding almost single handedly, and you two can't even play babysitter for one day.' She threw up her hands in exasperation.

'And you!' she turned the full force of her glare onto Edward and he winced again, shrinking back. 'Put Bella down right now!'

My face burned as I realized that Edward was still holding me tight in his arms. He slowly lowered me to the ground and I brushed at my dirty, tear stained face.

'All I ask of you is one day! Just stay away from Bella for one day! Is that so much to ask?' I finally gathered my courage and spoke up. 'I'm sorry Alice, it's really all my fault, he was just nearby and I tripped…' She shook her head. 'Oh Bella, I should have never let you out of my sight. How you survived this long without us is totally beyond my comprehension.'

Suddenly Emmett snickered. 'Did you have a nice trip, Bella?' I rolled my eyes in his general direction. 'Yeah yeah, see you next fall.'

Alice clapped her hands. 'All right everyone, we are way off schedule. We have to get moving. This wedding must go on tonight, I, for one, cannot stand to be around these two', she gestured to Edward and I, 'for another day. We need to get you two married.'

Edward straightened up and held his hands out in front of him towards Emmett and Jasper, palms together. 'I'll be your willing prisoner if the end result is that I get to spend eternity with her.' He looked down at me, a gentle smile tugging the corners of his mouth. 'Gross.' Emmett grabbed Edward by the arm and began to tug him away from me. 'You two are truly revolting.' Jasper slunk off behind Edward and Emmett.

Alice called after them. 'Oh boys! I don't care if you have to take him to a different state, keep Edward away from Bella until the ceremony. Emmett, you don't want me to tell Rosalie that Edward was able to get away from you so easily, do you?' Emmett scowled and pushed Edward ahead of him. 'And Jasper...you know better than to let Edward ruin all my plans.' Jasper smiled guiltily back at Alice, nodded, then ran after Edward and Emmett.

The rest of the morning and afternoon flew by in a blur of curlers, makeup, and beauty products. Alice and Rosalie practically flew around me, fixing my hair and makeup, painting my toes and fingers and checking on the dress every 5 seconds. Rosalie was just placing the last diamond in my long, softly curling hair when Esme came in, followed closely by my mother. As soon as Renee and I saw each other there was a tense moment where tears flowed and makeup was carefully reapplied.

My vampire friends stood aside while Renee and I had a quiet moment together as she helped me into my wedding dress. She stepped back and looked at me, tears in her eyes.

'Oh Bella, you look absolutely stunning. And so grown up...I am so proud of you, and all the choices that you've made for yourself.' She hugged me fiercely, the same hug that she had given me before I left Phoenix for Forks. I returned the hug until she pulled away, then she glanced over her shoulder at the other women in the room. 'Do you think we should let Bella see all the hard work you've put into her today?'

Alice nodded eagerly and danced forward, taking me by the hand and leading me to the full length mirror in her closet. I was feeling way too embarrassed by all the attention so I peeked at my reflection, only letting myself see my feet. I was wearing strappy, impossible high heels, though they were invisible under my dress. I gulped as I realized, for the first time, how utterly long my dress train was. I didn't think I was exaggerating in the slightest to estimate its length at 5 feet. Frightened by the ridiculous death trap combo of my train and shoes, I quickly looked up higher in the mirror. I gasped despite myself. For the first time in my life, I felt like all eyes would not be immediately drawn to Edward.

My dress was the purest, softest white. The sleeveless bodice was tight and showcased all my curves. At the waist the dress blossomed out and intricate lace-and bead work adorned the fabric. I wore no jewelry save the ring that Edward had placed on my finger. My hair fell softly around my shoulders and down my back, diamonds glistening from their calculated placement in my hair.

I wasn't done taking everything in when there was a sudden knock at the door. Charlie had arrived, telling everyone else it was time to take their places downstairs. Esme came forward and hugged me lightly, my mother looked at my through tear sparkled eyes, Rosalie gave me an encouraging smile, and Alice quickly kissed my check before they all fled the room. Music floated up the stairs, Pachelbel's Canon. I gulped nervously. Charlie offered me his arm and whispered, 'You look beautiful Bella.'

I smiled shyly, 'Thanks Dad.' I took his proffered arm. 'Promise me something.'

He began to move us from the room and towards the stairs. 'Anything.'

We came to the head of the stairs and suddenly I could see what looked like half the town, seated in the Cullens' transformed living room, all their eyes on me. 'Don't let me fall, Dad.' His patted my arm with his free hand, his voice gruff. 'I'm still your primary protector until we get to the end of our walk, and I'm not about to let you get hurt now.' I swallowed down the lump that had formed suddenly in my throat, and I moved with my father down the stairs. I was concentrating so hard on not tripping down the stairs, and again on not falling over my own feet as I walked down the aisle, that I did not see him until Charlie gave me a rough kiss on the cheek and released me.

He held his hand out for me as I took the final steps toward him, his face absolutely alight with bliss as our fingers met.

He lowered his lips to my ear, 'Bella, you have utterly dazzled me.' He pulled me close to him as we turned, together, to meet our destiny.

* * *

Sitting here now, with Alice's arm tight around my shoulders, it was hard to believe that such happiness, such light, had ever existed for me. All I knew now was darkness, despair, and an unquenchable, growing thirst.


	3. Chapter 3

"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars—points of light and reason… And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."

This quote from New Moon is my absolute favorite from the books, and I believe it gives a perfect prelude to this coming chapter very nicely.

But be warned readers, vampire nudity lies ahead.

Enjoy.

Chapter 3: The culmination of Some 100 Odd Years

**Edward's Point of View**

I was broken out of my reverie by a slight movement beside me. I quickly lifted my head away from the clammy stones and glanced worriedly at Jasper. This was the first time he had stirred in days. He met my gaze in silence, his eyes reflecting back the darkness and despair of my own. I had been blocking his thoughts with as much power as I could muster, I knew they were just as dark as my own and I also knew I could hardly stomach my own burden, let alone double that.

Jasper's eyes stole quickly to the door, and I picked up on the whisper of footsteps that were quickly approaching.

The foot thick steel door slid open as if it was made from mere wood. Three darkly cloaked figures strode in, one small and androgynous, the other two tall and dark.

I looked down at the floor, not wanting to meet their eyes, but not before I saw Felix wink and smirk at me, like he was sharing some inside joke the two of us shared. I concentrated even harder on blocking everyone's thoughts around me, especially his.

Jane spoke then; her voice at that moment was the most hated thing in the world to me. 'Aro sends his greetings, he hopes all is well with the both of you.'

Jasper snorted, and his thoughts suddenly broke through and leapt out at me, my mental barriers could not hold out the violence and pure hatred concealed within. 'He regrets that this arrangement continues to be necessary, and wants me to remind you that your confinement is completely your doing. All you need do is swear to serve and you will both be free.'

'Servitude is not exactly my idea of freedom.' Jasper spit out, his face a mask of contempt. 'You have no right to keep us here, by your own laws this is wrong! We broke no rules!' I could feel him tensing beside me, preparing himself to spring. I put my hand on his chest, my head still drooped down, and shook my head. 'No Jasper, think of Alice.'

He snarled and flung my hand away. 'It's exactly Alice of who I think! If I were no longer their prisoner then they have no leverage over her, she could find a way out and go back to Carlisle and Esme! Away from this hell…'

I shook my head slowly, hands absentmindedly playing with the hem of my pants. 'I know Alice's mind, the moment that your future vanished hers would be over as well.'

Felix clapped his hands loudly. 'Very good Edward, keep your brother in line, we wouldn't want any accidents to happen. That would be _such_ a loss.' The sarcasm fairly oozed from his lips. Jane smiled beside him, clearly enjoying being a witness to our torture.

Demetri spoke for the first time. 'We are to take that as a no?' Jasper leapt to his feet, a guttural growl tearing from his lips as he reached for Demetri. He was dropped to the ground before took another step, writhing in agony as Jane smiled peacefully at his tormented form.

'Waste of time.' Demetri whirled and left the room, leaving Felix and Jane behind.

Jasper howled, and I could not tell if it was with pain or frustration. Jane let another minute go by, then, with Jasper curled into a fetal ball on the floor, his body shaking in agony. Then her smile slipped and she inclined her head in our direction. 'Same time tomorrow, then.' She turned and glided silently from the room.

Felix started to follow, then winked in my direction. 'I think I'll ask the lovely Bella to _dinner_ again, I think she's starting to grow rather fond of me.' He barked a laugh and then whirled out the door, cape swirling, pulling it shut behind him. I never raised my eyes from the cuff of my pants.

I wasn't aware how much time had passed when I was thrown roughly back against the wall, Jasper's hands gripping the collar of my shirt. 'Wake up Edward! How can you just sit here day after day and do nothing? We could take them, they lower their guard more and more every day in front of us! We have to do something!'

I couldn't meet his eyes, which I knew were frantically searching my face for any spark of life. I spoke in the barest of whispers, though I knew Jasper would have no trouble hearing me.

'Don't you see? I already have done something, I've done far, far too much.' The anguish inside me spilled out and into my words. 'The moment I first laid eyes on Bella I have done nothing but destroy her life, taking it from her in inches. I stole her heart, I robbed her of her humanity, and now…the crime is complete.' I twisted my fingers into my hair, tugging on it in anguish.

'The last place she would ever have wanted to be and here she is, because of me!' I roared the last word, shoving back against Jasper so forcefully that he was knocked to the ground.

I flew to the door and slammed my fist into it, leaving a dent that was half a foot deep. 'This door could never hold us, if I knew that I could save Bella I would be through it in an instant! But I have never saved her! Only pulled her down farther into the abyss.'

My voice broke, and my temper soon followed.

'If Aro even thinks for even one second that we're going to make a fight of it, he'll finish Bella and Alice before we can even fight past one of his guard. I've heard his mind. He considers Bella and Alice his now, his to guide and command. He will not let them leave him, he would rather they were dead. The only reason we're still alive is to assure Bella and Alice's compliance.

My eyes became glazed over and glassy. 'I have done nothing but pull an angel from heaven, I will not have her death on my hands, I will not move one toe out of line if it will cause her any more trouble.'

Jasper was on top of me in a blur, his hands on my shoulders as he slammed me against the door, leaving the indent of my head and shoulders next to the fist shaped dent. I made no move to stop him, and his thoughts flung his anger at me like the crashing of waves upon an unbreakable shore.

'Edward you have to snap out of this.' His voice was low, his every syllable pronounced slowly, edged with the tip of a dagger. 'Bella needs you, all she ever asked of you was your love, and this is how you repay hers? With your self righteous guilt? You've given up Edward. You will just lie down and die, you'll let Aro keep Bella and twist her and make her into a mockery of her former self!' He roared, his face mere inches from mine.

'Wake up!' He slammed my shoulders back against the steel door. I refused to meet his eyes, mine never leaving the stone floor, making no attempt to fight back or even to protect myself. My lips barely moved as I whispered, my voice expressionless. 'I've ruined her.'

Jasper let go of me and I slumped to the floor, my back sliding down the door.

He spit on the ground next to me, and the steel was razor sharp in his voice. 'You are no brother of mine.' He left me where I lie and retreated to the darkest corner of the cell. My eyes never left the ground. But still, some part of me, locked deep inside, remembered…

* * *

I wove the Volvo through the streets of Forks, I knew my destination and the way there by heart, which was a good thing as I could barely stand to take my eyes off Bella sitting in the seat next to me. She was dressed in a white, form fitting travel dress which Alice had picked out. As soon as I had gotten her into the car and away from all of our well wishers, I pulled out a white silk scarf and turned to face her.

'Bella? Do you trust me?' She studied me for a moment, her eyes flicking to the scarf then back, a quizzical smile touching the corners of her lips. 'Of course I trust you Edward.' Her eyes gazed lovingly into mine, and it was like the skies had opened after a storm and the sun had returned, that was the only way I could think to describe the way that she made me feel.

'And you accuse me of dazzling you.' I murmured softly as I reached over and covered her eyes with the scarf, then knotted it gently in the back. I buckled her seatbelt for her and quickly stepped on the gas, leaving the house far behind.

When the road ended, I pulled my car over and was out the door and around to Bella's side before she even realized we had stopped. I opened her door and reached in, unbuckling her seatbelt for her and taking her hands, helping her to step from the car. She looked around, even though the gesture was made useless by the scarf that blocked her vision. I laughed when her nose crinkled as she sniffed the air.

'Hmm, I smell trees…' She sighed and pouted. 'I'm no good at guessing Edward, we could be anywhere in Forks, the whole area is just trees and rain. Can I take the blindfold off now?'

I laughed louder and swept her off her feet and into my arms, my laughter abruptly cutting off as I felt her soft body against my chest. Her heartbeat, so close to where mine should be, sent an electric jolt through my body. I was suddenly all too aware of how close she was. It was like my entire body was alive with some sort of electric current, I had not felt this particular sensation since the first time we had touched. I closed my eyes, images suddenly popping into my head of what we were about to attempt. I heard something between a growl and a soft moan and with a start I realized that it was coming from me. Bella's weight shifted in my arms. "Edward? Is something wrong?' She lifted her hands to the scarf to pull it away.

'No my Bella, everything is wonderful.' I gently pushed her hands away from the scarf. 'Just lay back and enjoy the ride.' I started to run lightly through the trees. My thoughts were racing faster than my legs, and I had to make a conscious effort to come back to the present. Running Bella smack into a tree at an ungodly speed was not the way that I wanted to start off my wedding night.

Before I was ready, we were at our destination. Reluctantly I set Bella on her feet. I stood behind her, then leaned down and rested my head on her right shoulder. I couldn't resist taking a long whiff of her hair, my left hand playing gently with a strand of her hair.

'Are you ready to see the number one honeymoon destination for vampires and their new wives, Mrs. Cullen?' I thrilled to the sound of those words, she was mine, forever mine, my wife. She would never belong to anyone but me.

'Yes.' She whispered.

I lifted both hands to the back of her head and undid the knot that held the scarf over her eyes. Holding each end in either hand, I slowly lowered the scarf, letting Bella see the scene before us. 'My lady, may I present to you, your wedding night accommodations.'

My whole body was tense, waiting to see if she would like what she saw.

'Oh Edward.' She gasped. 'It's our meadow…'

We were indeed standing in the middle of our meadow, and twilight had just fallen.

This whole past week, while Bella was fast asleep, I had been sneaking away from her bedroom to prepare the meadow. The trees on the fringes of the cleared space were speckled with twinkling yellow Christmas lights, which looked for all the world like millions of tiny fireflies surrounded us.

In the middle of the meadow I had placed a large white tent. Right now the sides of the tent were rolled up to reveal the inside. Taking up the entire interior of the tent was an enormous bed. The sheets and pillows were all a fluffy white, and there were 4 dark posts sticking up from each corner that supported an intricately wrought open iron ceiling.

Next to the stream I had set a brand new, white mini grand piano.

I started to get nervous; Bella had not said a word since I took off the blindfold. I stepped to her side and gestured grandly to the meadow, then picked up her hand and lightly brushed my lips over it. I stole a glance at her and raised an eyebrow.

Bella suddenly shook her beautiful head, her brown hair rippling in waves, and she suddenly came back to me. 'Edward I absolutely love it! It's so gorgeous!' I closed my eyes and grinned, thrilled that she appreciated my handiwork.

She turned and threw her arms around me, her body pressed tight against mine as she leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss my lips. A sudden warmth started at my lips and spread throughout my entire body. I kissed her back eagerly for a moment, then reluctantly pulled away.

I heard a sigh escape from Bella's exquisite lips. 'Edward, you can't push me away tonight. Tonight you belong to me.' Once again I felt the familiar electric jolt run through my body as I heard Bella claim me.

I chuckled tenderly, tilting Bella's pouting face up to mine. 'I do belong to you tonight Bella. But I have a few more events planned before I give myself over to you completely, so please try to be patient.'

The smile stole back onto my angel's face as I spoke. I took her hand and led her to the piano. 'Please let me play for you Bella.' I slid onto the piano bench and patted the bench next to me.

Bella slid into place on the seat and she twined her leg around mine, her delicate foot resting on top of mine. I shuddered at the closeness of her leg to mine. 'Bella, you give me far too much credit. How can I play for you with such distractions as you are releasing on me?'

I glanced around for some sort of a distraction, and suddenly the meadow felt incredibly hot. Not like a cool, breezy summer night should feel like at all. I loosened my white shirt collar and unbuttoned the top, hoping that the breeze would help to cool me down.

Bella watched my movements, a mischievous smile touching the corners of her mouth.

I groaned. 'Bella please, I have been working on a new song for you for a long time, please please behave yourself and let me share it with you.'

She weaved her fingers into my hair and tugged gently. My head automatically leaned toward her, my eyes half closing in pleasure.

'So that's how you're going to play it, huh? You're not the only one who can play dirty.'

I opened my eyes and turned my stare fully onto her. I gazed deeply into her eyes, all the while thinking with all the fiber of my being how much I loved her. I smiled that half crooked smile that I knew she loved.

Bella's face went blank and her mouth fell slightly open as she stared back, and her hand fell slowly away from my hair. Ha, I thought, I still got it.

Smiling triumphantly, I turned back to the piano.

'Edward, that was completely unfair, you shouldn't dazzle me like that.'

I turned the full force of my eyes onto her again, leaving her breathless. 'There is going to be plenty of dazzling going on tonight Bella, so you better get used to it now.'

I set my fingers on the keys and began to play Bella's new song. Out of the corner of my eye I watched as Bella became undazzled, her heartbeat returned to normal and she smiled brightly at me as I played.

She leaned her face close to mine, exhaling sweetly. 'I never thought any music could be more wonderful than my lullaby.' She murmured, letting her eyes drift shut as she listened to the intricate, soft melodies. A tear trickled down her cheek as the song reached its climax, then softly faded to the close.

I caught the tear gently on my fingertip and left my hand against her face. 'I love you Isabella Cullen, my Bella, now and always.'

Before she could respond I leaned in, and at first I just gently brushed her lips with mine, but then, as I began to let go of myself, my lips moved more greedily against hers. I placed my hand on the back of her head, my fingers losing themselves in her hair. I felt her body tremble against mine as I parted my lips and ran my tongue over her bottom lip.

I knew that another moment of this, and I would never be able to resurface. I let me hand slip from her hair and pulled away. She just sat there, eyes closed, a radiant smile playing across her face, and she whispered my name.

I reached my hand into my dress pants pocket and pulled out the small object that I had placed there earlier, back at the house.

'Open your eyes, my love.' Bella's eyes obediently opened and she eyed my closed hand suspiciously.

'Edward…did you buy me something? I thought we'd agreed on this point. No presents. It's enough for me that I have you.'

I raised my free hand and put my finger against her lips. My eyes rolled back in my head as her tongue flicked out and licked the tip of my finger. 'You are utterly insatiable.'

I sighed. 'Let me give you this one gift Bella.' My eyes bored deep into hers, pleading with her. 'I want you to have this, so that you can always know my love for you. If we are ever separated, even for the briefest of moments, I want you to have this physical reminder that I love you, and I will always come back to you, no matter what might stand in my way.'

Bella giggled. 'You're hopelessly dramatic Edward. I don't need a physical reminder of your love, or of you. And I don't ever plan on being separated from you, so it's really not necessary.' She must have seen the heartbroken look on my face, because she quickly added. 'But of course I'll accept. Let me see.'

I frowned, why did this girl have so much trouble accepting a simple gift from one who loves her so? I shook my head. 'Silly Bella, give me your hand.' She obediently held her hand out. 'And close your eyes.' She shook her head, then closed her eyes and mumbled something about theatrics.

Ignoring her mumbled comment, I opened my hand and deftly attached her gift to her wrist. 'Ok, open your eyes.'

She held her wrist out in front of her face, and twisted her wrist this way and that, studying the gift.

'It's so…complex.'

I sighed. 'Complex was not really the reaction I was looking for there Bella.'

She laughed, and the dark cloud lifted from above me. 'It's very lovely though, Edward.' The bracelet was indeed complex, it was made from silver and was very slender, but the silver had been worked and twisted into complicated patterns.

'I had it made specially by an old jewel crafter in Ireland. I was told he was the very best. The patterns that make up the bracelet are endless, just like my love for you, Bella.'

She groaned loudly but threw her arms around me once again and whispered, her lips touching my ear. 'You are the utterly ridiculous one Edward, but God help me, I love you.' She kissed my earlobe and then gently nibbled on it. 'I love you.'

Abruptly my body was on fire again with electricity, and I knew it was now or never. I was on my feet in an instant and I swept Bella into my arms and moved swiftly toward the tent. Bella gasped in shock at my sudden movements.

I had her laid down in the middle of the bed before she could say one word. Her eyes were suddenly alight as she reached up for me. 'Not yet, my love, I think the occasion calls for a little privacy.' She shook her head, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. Here we are out in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, and he thinks we need _more_ privacy.

I smiled her favorite crooked smile and began to unravel the sides of the tent, pulling the white silk fabric down and tethering it to the ground, encompassing us in our own little white world. She reached for me yet again, but one last time I shook my head. 'Allow me one more small theatric.' I pulled a cord, and the entire ceiling rolled aside to reveal the dark night sky that was awash with bright stars.

I gestured above us to our star speckled ceiling. 'A view that befits you, my lady.'

Bella glanced up, the starlight dancing in her eyes. 'It is very nice.'

I slowly undid the rest of the buttons on my shirt. Bella's eyes swiftly shifted to me, her gaze following my hands. 'Silly Edward, like the stars could ever outshine you.' I let my shirt fall open, then shrugged out of it.

I stepped closer to the bed. 'Come here, my blazing meteor.' Bella rose to her knees and moved over to the edge of the bed, I met her there and looked deeply into her eyes, losing myself. Bella was right about one thing, those cold, distant stars could not compete with the beauty that was before me now.

I took her face gently in my hands, studying every inch of her stunning face. 'You have never realized how truly beautiful you are, Bella.'

I realized the moment was finally upon me. This gentle, radiant creature in front of me was giving herself over to me, completely trusting that I would not harm her. Bella's absolute faith in me at this moment gave me a confidence I had never before possessed.

Bella shivered as I undid the clasp on the back of her dress. I laid my cheek against hers. 'Are you cold?'

'No.' She whispered, her voice certain. 'All I feel is anticipation.'

All of a sudden I recognized that I was shivering as well. My hands were at my waist, and before I entirely realized what I was doing I was stepping out of my pants and underwear. Comprehension dawned slowly on me as I discovered that Bella had been similarly undressing herself while I was.

Bella was looking at me shyly, her cheeks bright red with the blush that I loved so much. 'Looking at your husband naked is not a crime Bella, you don't have to be embarrassed.'

I laughed as I noticed that I had subconsciously flexed my muscles in an obvious attempt to impress my new wife.

I pushed Bella playfully back, off her knees so that she landed in the middle of the enormous bed. I climbed on top of her and let myself fully look at her for the first time. After that, I couldn't tell how much time had passed, but I had stopped breathing as I studied her beautiful form.

I glanced down and realized that Bella was quickly becoming uncomfortable under my piercing gaze. 'I'm sorry Bella.' I nuzzled my nose against her neck, then kissed the hollow of the throat. 'It's just…I've seen countless works of art before, and many were crafted by masters of their arts, but I know now that none of them could have ever had a subject as completely flawless as you.'

She was blushing furiously again, and I was absolutely and hopelessly in love with her. I grinned down at her, proud that I could make her blush so.

She scowled at my grin, infuriated at her bodies' reaction to my words. She smirked. 'At least my body isn't the only one suffering a very obvious reaction.'

I didn't need to glance down to confirm which exact bodily reaction of mine to which she referred. 'I'm not ashamed. I've been to medical school two times, and it is a perfectly natural male reaction. Especially when he is so close to something this spectacular. My eyes again traveled over her body, drinking it all in.

Bella tangled both hands in my hair and pulled my face within inches of hers. 'Edward, just shut up for once and kiss me.'

'Your wish is my command.' I whispered softly, before giving my angel her wish.

For the first time since I had been with Bella, I gave myself completely over to the kiss. I moaned as I felt her gasp with the intensity of the kiss. There was a small voice in the back of my head, urging me to be cautious and to go slowly, but I knew that voice would not control my actions tonight.

My hands ran up and down the sides of her body as our kiss deepened. Down her shoulders, against her fingertips ever so lightly, then on to her deliciously soft legs, until I reached her knees. And then, just as I had been burning to do again ever since that night when I returned to Bella after I had purchased our bed, I grasped her legs and hooked them around my waist.

I pushed myself closer to her body, moaning her name as my erection brushed against the inside of her thigh. I could hear Bella's heart, it was thumping faster than a hummingbird's wings. I was afraid that it might leap out of her chest.

I pulled away from our kiss and laid my ear against her heart, listening to its frantic rhythms. Bella kneaded her hands into my hair and tugged my face back to hers, kissing me passionately again and again. My hands fell from her legs, though she kept them tightly wrapped around my waist. I let one hand trace haphazard patterns across her stomach, then I moved it tentatively to her breast.

Bella arched her back and whispered my name, and the movement pushed her lower body closer to mine. It was my turn to shudder as the incredible heat between her legs pushed against my hardness. I felt as if I would explode if she made the slightest movement.

I covered her breast with my hand, my thumb stroking her as I leaned in and trailed kisses across her collarbone. I whispered so softly that I was not even sure that she could hear me. 'Bella, are you ready?' She ground her hips against me, and I growled low in my throat, my entire body consumed by a fire such as I had never known. Not even my newborn vampire thirst could compare with this voracious fire I now felt.

Her liquid brown eyes met my own, and she nodded, her lower lip trembling slightly.

I kissed her lower lip, again and again, as I placed my hands on her upper thighs, spreading her legs apart a little more. I fought a violent urge to enter her quickly as I felt her heat pressed against me.

I whispered my love for her over and over in between the kisses I rained on her lips. Ever so slowly and gently I pushed myself inside of her. I trembled head to toe with the intense waves of pleasure that now rolled over my body. Bella whimpered softly and I immediately froze, letting her grow used to having me inside her.

Gradually I could feel Bella's body relax, and I lowered myself over her, supporting my weight with my arms, one on either side of her. I began to thrust gently against her. The utter ecstasy I felt at this moment was unlike anything I had ever imagined. I had never felt such warmth and pleasure in all my long century of existence.

When Bella arched her back and pushed her hips out to meet me, I completely lost control. I grabbed her shoulders roughly and held her body down as my thrusts intensified recklessly. That small voice in the back of my head warned me that Bella would be horrified at my actions, yet incredibly, she called my name out loud and pushed her hips up frantically to meet mine.

I groaned Bella's name deep down in my throat. I knew I could not hold out much longer, the pleasure was intensifying almost to the point of pain. Bella reached for me then, and her nails dug into my back as her hips thrust themselves urgently against me and I knew she was reaching her climax. I pushed myself deep inside of her and growled her name as I came quickly after her.

I threw myself down beside her, this was the first time since I became a vampire that I understood what it felt like to be tired. But it was the most wonderful tired in the world. I grabbed Bella up in my arms, holding her tight to my chest. I whispered gently to her that she was the most wonderful thing in the world.

It was at this exact moment that I truly believed, beyond a doubt, that heaven was waiting for me. No real monster would have ever been given a delicate angel such as my Bella.

We lay in each other's arms, a content and satisfied silence surrounding us. She may have slept. I lost all concept of time as I held her.

Bella was the first to break our silence. 'Edward?' I tenderly smiled down at my angel. 'Yes?' She took a deep, steadying breath. 'Its time Edward. I am ready.'

I laughed softly. 'Bella, you have to give me a bit longer than that, you just gave me the most wonderful time of my life, but I think I need a few more moments before we can start again.'

Bella blushed furiously and took a deep, steadying breath. 'No, Edward. Well, I mean yes, Edward but that is not exactly what I meant.' She was beginning to get flustered.

My eyes narrowed as I studied her hesitant face. She must have found some courage deep down because her voice took on a new resolve as she spoke again.

'You promised. We have fulfilled one another's conditions, and now I want to be with you. You have given me the most amazing experience today, earlier when you married me, and then when you gave yourself completely to me tonight. I want this perfect day to be my last, clearest memory. It's my decision, and I am ready. Change me.'

She sat up and folded her arms across her chest, her mouth set in a firm line, her eyes betraying the nervousness which she felt.

I shocked even myself when I finally spoke. 'You're wrong Bella. It is not your decision.' She opened her mouth to protest, but I held up my hand, my eyes pleading with her to hear me out. 'It is your decision, _and_ mine. And I agree with you.'

Her mouth gaped open, and I allowed myself a tight smile at her stunned expression.

'You're really…your willing to change me? Right now?' Her voice retained some of its hesitation, but there was also a new edge of hope.

I nodded. 'You are my life now, and always, Bella. I can no longer deny you anything.'

I gracefully pushed myself off the bed and went to a chest that was sitting against one of the tent's walls. I lifted a light dress from inside for Bella, and a pair of cotton pants for myself. I pulled the pants on, then held the dress out to Bella, who obediently lifted her arms and let me slide the dress onto her.

I pulled Bella to her feet, and searched her eyes deeply with my own, looking for any signs of fear or hesitation. We stood like this for I know not how long. Her rich chocolate brown eyes gazing into my soft butterscotch ones.

Finally she took my hand. 'I love you Edward.' I enclosed her warm, alive hand in my own, and simply repeated. 'Bella, you are my life.'

I swept her off her feet and placed her gently back onto the bed. I sat beside her, my hand never letting hers go. I knew the time for questioning her decision was past, resolution radiated from her very core. She had, after all, made the choice a long time ago. It was only I who had hesitated.

'Let me have one moment Bella. One last human moment.' Her eyes sparkled with laughter at my use of her old phrase and she relaxed her head back onto the pillow, giving me my time.

I must have kissed every part of her body, starting with her toes, which made her giggle and blush. I paused, looking up from my attack on her feet, memorizing the glorious reddish tint to her cheeks. I slowly kissed my way up her body, locking away every delicious scent in my memory, relishing the scent of her blood which so tormented and yet sang to me.

All too soon I was done with her fingers, her arms, her torso, her breasts, her soft and creamy neck. I gazed at her in wonder. Her luxurious hair was fanned out around her head, just like it had been that sunny day when I had secretly watched from the forest as she lay on her blanket and slept.

She put her hand up to my cheek, calling my attention back to the present. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and realized with a shock that I was almost excited. Not for the fact that I was taking Bella's humanity, her warmness, her normal life from her, but because I would soon get to share my entire world with her. I would no longer have to be so cautious, always careful around her. I could finally relax and let her share in my true self.

I grinned, and Bella grinned back. She leaned up and quickly kissed me, letting her lips linger, then she fell back onto the pillow. I took a deep, steadying breath, preparing to hold my breath until I was finished.

When I opened my eyes again, Bella was staring anxiously into my face, and her lip trembled ever so softly. At this first sign of real fear of the transformation I was about to put her through, my resolve almost crumbled.

I gave her the most reassuring smile that I could muster, then, not being able to help myself, I kissed her trembling lower lip one last time.

'Edward?' My eyes flew to hers at the sound of my name. 'Take care of me, please.'

I gazed into her lovely brown eyes for the last time. 'Always, Bella, forever.'

The sun was just beginning to dim the light of the stars as I held my breath. I lowered my face to her neck, then, concentrating on my love and absolute need for Bella, I bit her neck.

I knew she would feel no pain at first, so I quickly moved to her delicate wrists, then to her ankles, then back to her neck for one final bite. Despite all my best efforts, the delicious scent of her blood invaded and assaulted my senses. I curled my hands into fists as I resisted my ultimate temptation. The burning in my throat was pure agony. I knew that Bella did not feel the burning pain yet, but it would quickly come. I needed to get her back to my house.

If I still had a heart, it would have died inside of me as I saw the first traces of pain cross Bella's face. She murmured my name and held her hand out for me. I grabbed it with both of mine, holding tight as a sob wrenched from my throat. The next second the scent of her blood hit me like a brick wall. It was mouth-watering, exquisite. I hated myself for thinking that way.

Bella whimpered, and her hand squeezed mine. I swooped her up and into my arms, my body screaming at me to taste her dripping blood. Such a waste. The blood that seemed to be tailor made for me so that I could never resist nor forget. Resist, I would, but I could never forget.

I started to run with Bella in my arms. The Volvo would not be fast enough. Only I could get Bella to the safety of my house before I became the monster that I had always known lived inside of me.

* * *

I had brought down an angel such as that. How had I dared?...I buried my face in my hands.


	4. Chapter 4

Stick with me readers, we're definitely going somewhere.

Chapter 4: Heartless

**Bella's Point of View**

I had never felt so utterly alone in my entire life. Even when Edward left, I still had Charlie, Renee and Jacob. But now…I wasn't even the same species as Charlie and Renee. Jacob was lost to me. And my vampire family was, well, half of them were scattered and lost, and I had no idea what had happened to the other half. It was completely my fault.

The Volturi would never have come if it had not been for me. It was stupid to assume we were safe one I had been changed. Aro had always been curious about me. And when vampires were used to having whatever they wanted for century after century, he was bound to come and see how I turned out sooner or later. It was just sooner, and with more force, than any of us had ever dreamed.

Now Jasper and Edward were locked away, and Alice and I were also prisoners. Prisoners of a different sort, that was true, but prisoners nonetheless. If only we knew where they were, if they were ok. But Aro had promised us that Edward and Jasper would not be harmed so long as we behaved. It didn't take much to imagine the veiled threat in his casually spoken words.

We were not allowed outside of the city walls without an escort, and the two of us were rarely allowed out together to hunt. Aro claimed that inside the city we were allowed to roam as we wished, but there was always a distant grey cloak that tracked us.

Also, more and more frequently Alice and I had been separated. Aro kept Alice with him almost constantly, quizzing her on this and that mundane detail of the future. I was supposed to be practicing my power. Aro had apparently seen my power inside Edward's memories and he was eager to harness it for himself.

I heard a rude snort from behind me. 'Bella's daydreaming again.' Felix came up beside me, I could smell his foul breath. I shuddered, he always stood much too close to me.

'Daydreaming about your wittle pretty boy Edward again, are we? You know, he hasn't really been around too much lately.' Felix smiled, though his eyes did not share in the smile as he stared greedily at me. 'A delicate young vampire such as yourself could use a strong companion like myself.' He threw his arm around my waist roughly and pulled me against him.

I shoved him away with all my power. I was barely able to do it. My newborn strength had been slowly waning. Figures, I thought, just when I need it the most it leaves. I really had no luck at all.

'I am beginning to lose patience Bella.' Felix's eyes flashed dangerously as I took a step back. 'I'm used to getting what I want, and I want you.' His now hungry expression took in my body. 'It's only a question of when, and the longer I have to wait, the worse it's going to be for you.'

Before I could respond a new voice called from behind me. 'Felix, you're quite the charmer. If you'd used those lines on me, our relationship could have turned out completely different.' A tall, shapely vampire joined us in the clearing. Chelsea. I was happy to see her for once, though usually I couldn't stand the sight of her.

Alice had once told me that Chelsea occasionally tried to sever Alice's emotional connection to Jasper and to swerve her loyalty to Aro. Only Alice's deep love for Jasper had allowed her to hold true to her feelings thus far. The worse thing about it was that Alice had never seen Aro telling Chelsea to use her powers on Alice. Chelsea did it on her own. Out of boredom or some other perverse reason, I did not know, and the reason mattered little to me.

I gasped as Alec, Demetri and then Alice followed Chelsea into the clearing. Alice gave me a small, encouraging smile. I grinned tightly back, wondering why we were allowed outside of the city together for the first time.

Demetri saw the looks we exchanged, and he held up a tiny cell phone. 'Just in case you two get any ideas, I can be on the phone in an instant and Jane will pay your boyfriends a visit. So lets all behave ourselves, shall we?'

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. I had not been allowed to see Edward since we had been imprisoned here, and I had lost track of the days. I thought of him every minute of the day, and I felt horrible that my very existence had never caused him anything but trouble. I hoped he was being treated well, as Aro had promised us that he and Jasper both were.

Chelsea cleared her throat. 'I'm sure you've both noticed that you are outside the city walls, and together. Caius does not think that Aro is doing a good enough job in developing your gift Bella. So he ordered us to bring you both out here for a little extra practice.'

I didn't like the sound of that at all. I glanced quickly at Alice, and she gazed back, her eyes empty. Then I understood.

'No! Don't hurt her!' My body tensed, I was ready to spring forward at a moment's notice.

'Really Bella, don't be so dramatic.' Chelsea rolled her eyes. 'Aro would never forgive any of us if we hurt his pet psychic. That's why we brought Alec, not Jane.'

I hadn't noticed him since he'd first entered the clearing, but Alec had been standing patiently the whole time, his eyes never leaving Alice.

'All you need to do is expand your mental barriers to cover Alice as well, and all will be well.' She turned to the slim boy at her side. 'Alec, begin.'

Alice's eyes went wide with shock, her always self assured body language evaporating. I knew exactly what she was experiencing. She was completely blind and deaf to the outside world.

I hated to see her like this. All the Volturi's mahogany, expectant eyes were on me. I clenched my fists at my side and tried to force myself to concentrate. I had done it, once before. I had extended my shield out to protect another. Aro wanted my power developed so that I could always be by his side and shield him. With Renata warding off any physical attack and I the mental attacks, Aro would be untouchable. The thought made me sick.

But I couldn't do it, not even to save Alice. I actually tried this time, harder than I had during any of my other forced practice sessions. I didn't know if I couldn't do it because always, in the back of my mind, was the image of myself ever present at Aro's side, or maybe I couldn't do it simply because it had been a one time deal, a fluke.

We all stood still as statues for the longest time. If any human unfortunate enough to stumble past the clearing could have seen us, it would have looked like some odd outdoor art gallery.

Finally I crumpled to the ground. Intense practice sessions were the only thing that could make me feel anything close to tired. 'I can't do it.' I whispered. 'I'm sorry Alice.'

With a start I realized that Demetri was on the phone. No…certainly they were not punishing Edward because of my failure. Demetri saw my wide eyed, panic stricken face, and an odd look flashed across his face. 'Caius, it's not working, we're coming home. But I have an idea. Do you think you can occupy Aro for another hour?'

I shrank back from his malevolent smile.

* * *

The burning pain was gradually starting to decrease. It had been all I had known for what felt like forever. I had suffered several lucid intervals during the change. Those had been the worst, when the pain retreated so that I could clearly think. I remembered I had laughed at three days a long time ago. I had said that three days was nothing, that I could endure more if I had to.

How incredibly wrong and stupid I had been. This did not feel like three days, it was more like three years, three decades of unending, burning torture.

I think I had cried out. I had sworn to myself that I was going to keep silent so that Edward wouldn't suffer along with me. But how was I to know if my screams were inside my head, or if I shouted for the world to hear.

I was eternally grateful that I had managed to remember Edward's face through my pain. During those short intervals of lucidity, I was able to focus all my thoughts on his wonderful, perfect face and then the pain was not so bad.

My heart started to flutter very fast. For one horrible minute, I though that something must have went wrong and I was dying. There, it was slowing, it was back to normal. No…I couldn't feel it beating at all. I must be holding my breath. I let out a long, low breath then sucked in a big mouthful of air.

It was like I had been swimming underwater my whole life. When I opened my mouth and inhaled, my senses were assaulted with wondrous, new, strange scents. Yet one was not so new…I sniffed the air again. It was so much stronger, it had so many more textures to it, but…

'Edward?'

Someone squeezed my hand gently. I frowned. It couldn't be Edward, this touch was much too warm to be his.

Then Edward's velvet voice spoke to me. 'Bella? Are you ok? The…transformation is complete. Does something still hurt?'

The transformation is complete? My eyes flew open and I shot up, my hand pulling out of Edwards. I shook my head, confused. I hadn't meant to jump up like that. I had only tried to sit up and now I was at the opposite side of the room.

I did not look at Edward at first, I simply marveled at my new sight. Everything was much clearer, sharper, I could read the tiny print on every one of Edward's cd cases all the way across the room.

And Edward. I finally turned my gaze back to him. It was like I was seeing him clearly for the first time. Had I really thought he was so beautiful, so perfect before? He was breathtakingly exquisite now. I couldn't find the words to describe him.

But his face, he looked so sad, so crestfallen. Suddenly I realized that he must have misinterpreted the distance I had put so quickly between us.

I was at his side in an instant, once again misjudging my new speed. He glanced up at me, his eyes full of hurt and shame. I knew he thought I was upset, that I had finally run from him, though now it was too late.

I took his hand in mine. Amazing. His skin felt warm and so incredibly pleasant to me now. I knew that I would no longer shudder from his cold touch. A smile touched the corners of my lips and I leaned in, brushing my lips ever so softly against his.

The fire inside me returned at once. Except it was not like the torture I had just endlessly endured, this was a different fire. One that started deep inside me and spread outward, threatening to consume my entire body with desire.

Edward's lips were hesitant at first, he did not yet believe that I was pleased with him, that I did not want to run away screaming. As our kiss deepened he started to believe that I still truly wanted him. My fingers tangled in his hair and I realized with extreme exultation that there were no longer any barriers between us. Edward need not fear hurting me any longer.

He had pulled me onto his lap, his hands resting on my hips, when his bedroom door burst open.

'Bella!' It was Alice, and her voice was lovelier than ever. She danced into the room, giggling at me. Edward heaved a huge sigh and rotated me, so that I was sitting in his lap, cuddled against his chest. 'I'm sorry for intruding, but I saw that if I didn't interrupt you now, no one would have access to you or Edward for days.'

A week ago, I would have been left blushing furiously at Alice's comment. I grinned widely. I was enjoying being a vampire already.

'And, Alice? That would have been a bad thing _why_?' Edward's arms tightened protectively around me. Suddenly our whole family was through the door and everyone was talking at once.

Carlisle gave Edward a proud smile. 'See, I told you you'd done everything perfectly Edward.'

Esme rushed forward and kissed my cheek, her smile warm and excited. 'I know I've been saying this a lot Bella, dear, but welcome to the family.' She laughed brightly. 'Again.'

Rosalie was looking me over appraisingly. I rolled my eyes, she must be comparing to make sure she was still the most beautiful. Though how I could ever come close to her fairy tale good looks, I would never know.

Emmett grinned infectiously at me, and I had to return his grin. 'Awesome, now we can have even teams for baseball games.' His face fell. 'I am going to miss having you around as a human Bella. You made everything so much more exciting. We never knew when the next vengeful creature would come after you, or if you would just trip and fall.'

Edward growled at Emmett, but there was no malice in his growl, it was more like a friendly warning.

Jasper had moved over to stand with his arm around Alice. He winked at me. 'Thirsty yet, Bella?'

I frowned. Now that he mentioned it, there was a horribly dry sensation in the back of my throat. Like I'd been out in the sun all day without water. I nodded my head, suddenly afraid.

My eyes must have betrayed my fear, because Edward hugged me closer against him. 'Don't worry Bella, I'll take care of you.' He whispered.

'I better come too.' Emmett flexed his arms. 'I don't know if you'll be able to handle all that newborn strength if theres trouble, little brother.'

Edward snorted. 'Who are you calling little, Emmett, you know I'm older than you.'

'I wasn't referring to age.' Emmett flexed his muscles again.

It was Jasper's turn to roll his eyes. 'Ok Emmett, we've all had enough with the flexing.'

Rosalie came up behind Emmett and placed her hands around his bicep. 'Not all of us.' Emmett winked at her.

'All right everyone, I really do think Bella needs to hunt.' Carlisle took charge of the situation. 'Edward, I think it would be best if Emmett and Jasper went with you. Bella is still unsure about her strength, and this will be her first time outside since the change. We can never be too careful.'

Edward agreed with Carlisle, and the party drifted outside Edward's bedroom and down the stairs. Edward kept his hand intertwined with mine.

It was like I had been reborn. I guess I had. Everything seemed so new and clear. There were a thousand different smells alone. Not to mention how much sharper I could see every little detail.

Everyone else had finished discussing the best place to take me on my first hunt by the time we were at the front door.

'Ready?' Edward smiled reassuringly down at me, squeezing my hand. 'We won't let you do anything bad, don't worry.'

I took a steadying breath. I trusted Edward, of course, I just didn't trust myself. I suddenly remembered Jasper's stories about newborns and cringed. If I ever hurt another human, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

'I'm ready.' I nodded self assuredly and reached my hand out for the door. There was a wrenching sound, and I stared at my hand in shock. I had the door knob in my hand, and it wasn't attached to the door anymore. I looked at everyone, my eyes wide in surprise.

Emmett absolutely howled. 'Excellent! Doesn't know her own strength yet. This is gonna to be more fun than I thought.'

Jasper shook his head and joined Emmett in laugher. 'Like a deer caught in the headlights.' Esme smiled sympathetically at me and Carlisle frowned.

Alice just danced up to Edward and smiled smugly at him. "Oh, and Edward, about my not so timely intrusion earlier, you can thank me for that later.' Her eyes flicked down pointedly to the door knob still in my hand. She stuck her tongue out at Edward and pushed the door open.

Even Rosalie laughed now. Emmett was still gasping and clutching at his sides as Edward pulled me swiftly out the door.

My first time outside opened my eyes even wider than my initial awakening. Everything was so different. Edward and his brothers had raced with me deep into the mountains. As soon as I realized that I could keep up with Edward, I fell in love with my newfound speed and exalted in the wind that rushed through my hair. It felt incredible to be able to keep up with Edward, and he grinned at me, clearly excited that I could share in this experience with him.

The actual act of hunting wasn't as bad as I thought. Jasper and Emmett had sniffed out a large herd of animals. By this time, the burning sensation in my throat had changed from a dull roar to an all consuming blaze. My instincts completely took over and Edward let me loose.

After the fact, I glanced down at my white dress and winced. It was completely covered in blood and fur.

'That's a good look for you Bella.' Emmett winked at me.

'Alice is not going to be pleased about the dress.' Jasper smiled impishly at me. 'Maybe you should get her a bib next time, Edward.'

Edward put his arm protectively around me.

'Yeah! I'll get one of those with the lobster on it for her!' Emmett nudged Edward.

'You know, the little red lobster, they have 'em at those seafood restaurants. Not that I've ever really understood sea food, who wants to eat some smelly fish when you could have a giant piece of beef. Mmm. Sometimes I miss real food.' He sighed.

Edward raised an eyebrow at Emmett. 'I think we've scouted this general area thoroughly, there is not a human for miles. I believe I will be able to handle Bella by myself.'

He took my hand and began to guide me away. 'So if you two will excuse us, I would like to show Bella something. In private.'

He steered me away from his brothers while Emmett gaped at us, open mouthed.

'I think Edward is about to put the moves on Bella.'

Jasper nodded grimly. 'And he doesn't want us there.'

Emmett frowned. 'I don't think we're gonna see much of Edward for a while.'

Jasper shrugged hopelessly. 'I think your right.'

I could just faintly hear Emmett challenge Jasper as the distance between us started to widen. 'Bet I can get home before you can.'

Jasper turned away from us, but Emmett was already gone. Jasper sighed grimly, and then smiled. 'Good thing I know a shortcut.' And he was gone as well.

Edward broke into a light run, and I followed effortlessly beside him. 'So where are we going? Are you sure there aren't any humans around?' I glanced nervously back to where Emmett and Jasper had just disappeared.

'I am sure Bella, trust me, we would have been able to smell a human a long time ago.' I shuddered, and Edward pulled me close.

Our run took us to a rocky mountainside. Before I could object Edward tugged me alongside him and I found that I could navigate the uneven surface quite easily. A laugh escaped from my lips. Edward glanced at me sideways, curious.

'I was just thinking…four days ago I wouldn't have been able to take one step up this mountain, I would have been flat on my face.'

Edward smiled. 'Am I to take it that you are finding your new body to your liking?'

We kept climbing higher. I nodded. 'I can run as fast as you, instead of hanging on your back. I haven't fallen once yet. I can feel the wind right now, and I am pretty sure I should be really cold, but I'm not.'

Suddenly Edward was in front of me, his body blocking mine from taking another step. 'I'm glad to hear that. I also find myself liking your new body.' He smiled roguishly. 'Now I can do this.' He scooped me into a great bear hug and crushed me to his body. 'And I don't have to worry about breaking you.'

He whirled around and set me on a rock outcropping. 'The view from here is magnificent.' I let my eyes wander around the landscape, we were up very high and we could see for miles in every direction. I nodded, and then noticed that his eyes were locked onto me.

He took a bold step toward me, pushing my legs to either side of his body. From the height of my rocky vantage point, his eyes were a few inches below mine. He was gazing up at me through his wide lashes, star struck.

I grinned down at him. With the wind rippling through his hair, and a wild look in his eyes, I had never seen him more beautiful. I was suddenly filled with a burning desire.

'Edward, I was wondering.' He never took his eyes off me. 'Yes, Mrs. Cullen?'

'So far, my eyesight is amazing. My sense of smell is beyond anything I ever dreamed was possible. I am pretty sure I am hearing things I could never hear before. So, I was just wondering if all my other senses were enhanced in the same way…'

I trailed off, gazing down at him, keeping my face innocent. 'Was there anything else you were thinking of doing with my new body?'

His eyes closed and he moaned softly. 'When you speak like that it is utter torture for me.' He grabbed me down from my perch and ripped my ruined dress from my body. Then he picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he was tearing himself out of his shirt.

Our lips met while he frantically unbuckled his pants. The taste of Edward's lips was incredible. There was a multitude of flavors and tastes that I had never before been aware. I couldn't get enough and I deepened the kiss, forcing his mouth open with my tongue.

His pants fell to the ground and he kicked them away, shifting my body so that I could feel how hard he was. I ground my hips slowly against him and he groaned deep within this throat.

Edward pulled away from my lips and trailed rough kisses down my chin and onto my throat. He bit at my neck, and his tongue stroked the wet skin between his teeth. Edward sighed deeply and murmured into my neck. 'You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that.'

My hands went instinctively for his hair and my fingers became lost in its bronze length. His teeth fell from my neck and he pushed his head against my hands.

I had had enough, I couldn't be this close to Edward any longer without feeling him inside me. I repositioned my hips and drove myself onto him. I suddenly gasped, I felt like I was going to pass out. Having Edward inside of me before had been wonderful, but this was the most intense thing I had ever felt.

This smoldering sensation inside of me drove me absolutely wild. Edward must have sensed my heightened passion because he flung my back against a rock outcropping and moved his hips violently against me.

I threw my head back and growled deep in my throat as he thrust in and out of me. Edward snarled back, his lips claiming my own with forceful, rough kisses. He put one hand on either side of me against the rocks and his thrusts grew more desperate by the second.

My head still lolling back, I moaned Edward's name loudly. His lips attacked my bared throat, nipping at my skin and kissing from my chin to my collarbone.

I screamed Edward's name and bucked my hips toward his as I climaxed. He growled and held me down forcefully as he moved quickly toward his own climax. My fingers dug deeply into his back.

Finally his hips slowed, he thrust against me, gently, one or two more times and then slowly let me slide down the rock wall and into his arms. He was transformed in an instant, cradling me softly in his arms, gazing down into my eyes in wonder.

An angel's smile touched his lips. 'I never knew anything could feel that wonderful.'

I nodded, sheepish. 'If I would have ever guessed how intense that could be, I would have married you ages ago.'

He grinned. 'We have forever now, my Bella.'

I gazed back into his eyes for what seemed like ages and ages before he reluctantly let me slip to the ground. His pants, some 30 feet away from where we were standing, were ringing.

He growled warningly in the direction of the ringing but quickly made his way over and answered. Edward sighed and frowned at me, flipping the phone shut. 'Alice is threatening to come after us if I don't bring you home. She has accused me of keeping you all to myself.' He crossed the space between us and wrapped his arms possessively around me. 'I do not know why I shouldn't keep you to myself, you are mine.'

I was abruptly aware that we were both still naked and I slipped from Edward's grasp, trying to find my dress.

'Uh, Bella?' I turned and Edward was holding my dress in his hands. 'I don't think this is entirely wearable.'

I cringed. He was right. My once beautiful white dress was now ripped and stained with blood and animal fur. It looked like PETA's worst nightmare come to life.

He sauntered over, his clothes in his other hand. 'I, for one, firmly believe that right now clothes are overrated. But it wouldn't do to have our family see you like this, so you can borrow my shirt.'

I took the immaculate white dress shirt from his hand and slipped into it. He brushed my hands away and buttoned it himself, taking his time. Edward then lifted my hair out of the shirt and dropped a gentle kiss on my nose, his eyes sparkling.

He stepped into his pants and turned toward home, offering me his hand. I gasped, my hand covering my mouth in shock. 'Edward, oh no.'

His eyes flashed darkly as he looked around for whatever was troubling me. I giggled behind my fingers. 'No no Edward, there's no danger…its just…Edward I'm _so_ sorry, your back…'

He frowned and tried to look over his shoulder at his own back. 'What is it?'

I cringed and whispered softly. 'Bruises, from my fingers.'

Edward's eyes widened and then suddenly he was laughing. I let my hand fall from my mouth and smiled, I loved the sound of his laughter, it was like music. He grabbed me up in another giant, crushing hug.

'I never thought I would be the one who was in danger from you.' He put his lips up next to my ear and whispered. 'I didn't feel a thing though, love. Not anything bad, anyway. You're forgiven.'

He sighed theatrically and let me go. 'I almost forgot, Alice gave us exactly nine minutes to get back.' He began to run while I kept pace beside him. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up because he was moving much faster than earlier, but it was still all so effortless. I grinned. 'Why nine minutes?'

He shrugged. 'She saw the sun coming out in nine minutes, and she wants you to see something.' I eyed Edward suspiciously but didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

We made it to the Cullen's backyard right on time. The entire family was outside waiting for us, and I was mortified that they would all see me wearing nothing but Edward's dress shirt.

Carlisle and Jasper politely averted their eyes and Emmett wolf whistled. Rosalie rolled her eyes and stomped on Emmett's foot, he only grinned wolfishly at her.

Alice danced over, a large full length mirror in her hands. She shook her head and scowled at me. 'Really Bella, don't ever let Edward dress you again.'

Edward made a face at Alice and turned his head to me, breathing in my ear. '_I_ think she looks brilliant.'

Alice ignored him and took my hand, pulling me away from Edward. 'I wanted to be here when you first saw yourself.'

I put a hand up in warning. 'Hold on Alice, I know what I look like.'

She grinned. 'You know what you _used_ to look like Bella.'

I gasped. She was right. With everything else that had gone on, I hadn't even given a second thought to my appearance. Could I really look anything close to their perfection? I doubted it.

At that moment the sun emerged dazzlingly from behind a cloud. My breath caught in my throat. There, in front of me, were seven glittering angels, beautiful beyond comprehension. I did a double take, catching my reflection in the mirror that Alice held. No, not seven, there were eight.

I took a step closer to the mirror, not believing my eyes. I was still myself, but there were no longer any imperfections. And I was absolutely radiant. The sun glinted off my skin just as it had Edward's in the meadow.

I whirled to face Edward, still dumbfounded at my appearance. He smiled. He would have been amazingly dazzling even without the sun bouncing off his glimmering skin. I sighed.

The sun was gone as quickly as it had come and all the vampires returned to their normal, if not still spectacular, selves.

Alice mirrored my sigh with one of her own. 'She was supposed to be looking at herself, not at you Edward.' She mumbled something about Edward always ruining her fun.

I couldn't take my eyes off Edward. He came quickly to my side and took my hand. 'Sorry Alice.' He turned an impish grin on her. 'I think we have some more looking to do.' He tugged me past them all quickly. I was sure we would end up in his room.

Rosalie's lilting laughter followed us as we headed into the house. 'Less than five minutes, looks like I win this one, pay up boys.'

I could just hear Jasper as we disappeared behind the door. 'Did you see his back? Score one for me.'

* * *

Alice and I were herded back inside the city walls. Had I ever thought this city was pretty? It disgusted me now.

I tore away from Felix's arm as he yet again tried to wrap it around my waist. He just grinned and kept in step with me. 'What does that pretty boy have on me anyway, honey?' I'm bigger.' He winked at me. 'I'm stronger. And I'm not locked away. What more could a girl ask for?'

I ignored him, my eyes searching the quickly growing castle, wondering where Edward was right now. Over time, I had learned that ignoring Felix was the only real way to respond to his endless advances. If I scorned him or said even one word, he would just turn it back on me and keep going.

I quickly realized we were not going the usual way back to the castle. Our vampire escort had all begun to look the slightest bit nervous. I had no idea what was going on. But I had a feeling I wouldn't like it.

I suddenly remembered a dim human memory, and I knew where we were. We were about to drop into the sewer tunnels that Alice, Edward and I had traveled to reach the castle. What reason could they possibly have for taking us that way?

As we advanced through the tunnels a new smell hit me like a ton of bricks.

Edward! Edward was nearby. I saw that Alice had picked up on it too, but before I could say anything she was quickly whisked away down a separate tunnel by Chelsea and Alec.

I felt horrible about it, but I was not too concerned with where she was going right now. My tunnel was taking us closer to Edward, I was sure of it. We rounded a bend and then I saw him.

I gasped, my hand flying up to my mouth in shock. Could that really be my Edward?

He was on his knees, shirtless and shoeless, wearing only a pair of black sweatpants. His head was hanging low to his chin, his beautiful eyes turned down. His skin looked even paler than usual, if that was possible.

I was confused, I knew he must smell me too, he must know how close I was. But his head did not move.

'Edward!' Still he did not move, and Demetri held up a warning hand to me while Felix grasped my shoulder tightly. I snarled at the huge vampire holding me, but I made no move towards Edward as I recognized the slight figure standing next to him, Jane. There were also two grey cloaked figures behind them.

'Now Bella, we will try your shield powers again.' Demetri grinned and licked his lips in what could only be anticipation.

'No…' I took one step forward, hand outstretched to Edward.

Then his head was thrown back violently, his hands clenched tightly into fists at his sides. I glanced around quickly and saw Jane smiling beatifically at Edward.

'Stop it! Stop hurting him!' I tried to wrench my arm away from Felix, but Demetri only moved over next to me and took my other arm in his hands.

'Not like that Bella.' He whispered into my ear, his voice sickening me. 'Use your mind.'

I saw the veins standing out in Edward's arms, he was in obvious agony, though a sound never escaped his lips. He crumpled to the ground, rolling his body into a tight ball.

'Edward! Edward, please!' Dry sobs tore from my chest as I struggled against my captors.

I couldn't control my fury to concentrate, all I could think of was that Edward was in pain, and it was all my fault.

After an immeasurable period of time Edward's head slowly moved, for the first time since we have been torn from each other's arms such a long time ago, his eyes met mine.

I moaned in despair. His eyes, his beautiful, warm, soft butterscotch eyes were empty. They were still a light gold color, but they were dead, lifeless. I barely recognized them as belonging to my beloved Edward.

A cry of fury tore from my lips, I didn't even recognize it as a sound that I could ever make. I ripped my eyes from Edward's and glared at Jane. All my frustration and rage boiled to the surface. And underneath those strong emotions, pushing them to the forefront, was my intense love for Edward.

At that moment it was as if I was seeing through a filter. There was a light, hazy film surrounding me. I pushed at the film and it leapt outward timidly. My eyes flashed from Jane to Edward, and I pushed again. This time the film roared out toward Edward and completely enveloped him. And I knew that Jane could no longer hurt him.

Before anyone around me could register what had just happened, or that anything had happened at all, a new presence swept down the tunnels, catching us all off guard.

A black cloaked figure swept up to Jane, and put a translucent, papery hand on her shoulder. 'Enough, Jane.'

I did not recognize the voice. His hand stretched out, as if plucking some invisible string in the air, examining it. 'You are destroying them.'

'Take them back.' I was astonished, those last three words had been spoken in a voice that I did know. It was the bored, indifferent tone of Marcus. He turned abruptly and swept away, knowing that his command would be obeyed.

Jane was glaring after his back, her fun clearly ruined. Demetri and Felix were staring at each other, mouths agape, clearly just as shocked as I at this turn of events.

Felix shrugged. 'We better do what he says.' I'll take the boy, you get Bella back safely.

He sauntered over to Edward and pulled him roughly to his feet. Edward stood obediently and did not react, his head down, eyes to the floor. Felix glanced back at me and scowled, then slammed his fist into Edward's stomach, hard.

Edward doubled over, and Felix laughed harshly and swept his feet out from under him, knocking him to the floor.

I roared and my arm was out of Demetri's grip like it had never held me. I was on Felix in a heartbeat. Fueled by all my rage and frustration I raised my fist. A distant memory surfaced, and a voice long forgotten lectured me. Keep your thumb inside your fist Bella, hit him in the gut. Thanks Dad. I tucked my thumb inside my fist and with all the newborn strength that remained to me I brought my fist forward, into Felix's stomach. The force of the blow knocked him into the hard stone wall, his body gouging a huge furrow of rock out of the tunnel.

Felix lay against the crumbling wall, dazed. 'Next time, pick on someone who will fight back.' I snarled.

I rushed forward, and my hand briefly brushed Edward's cheek before I was pulled roughly back. Demetri held his arms tight around me, holding me back from the only place in the world that I wanted to be. The two nameless, faceless grey cloaks picked Edward up off the ground.

'Get up Felix. How can you be so careless.' Demetri wrestled me away from Edward. 'Help me with her. You two, get Edward put away before things get any more out of hand.'

I watched helplessly as I was drug away from my Edward. Before we rounded the bend, his face flashed up quickly, and our eyes met for the briefest of heartbeats until the tunnel tore him from my sight.

I smiled grimly to myself. They could take me from Edward now, but what I was pretty sure of was that none of them knew that I had just found the key to my power. I was also pretty sure that Caius would want to keep Aro from touching me for as long as he could manage. For all Caius would know, his little experiment had failed miserably. He would not want Aro knowing about this for a long time.

This would work to my benefit. I was going to get all of us out of here, and soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A Brighter Shade of Pale

**Jasper's Point of View**

This was not good. Jane and some of the other Volturi guard had come and taken Edward away.

I had thought this was just their daily routine. Jane would come in, tell us that Aro had sent her, and ask if we had changed our minds yet about our continued 'self' enforced imprisonment.

Long ago I had considered lying to Jane and telling her yes, I was ready to serve. I would have put on a very good show while I searched for a way to escape, but in the end Aro would have insisted on touching my hand and he would have known in a second that my pledge was not sincere.

I sighed and shook my honey blonde hair from my eyes. I should have done something when they came for Edward. Their intentions had become glaringly clear when the two faceless grey cloaks had each taken Edward's arm and drug him from the room.

But I had been so angry with him. Beyond angry. I could not believe he was reacting this way about our situation. I sighed again, my fingers digging chunks of stone out of the wall in my frustration. Actually, I could believe it, and that was even worse.

Edward had always acted like this where Bella was concerned. Always worried about her soul, terrified that he was taking more from her than he was giving back. In so many ways Edward was a fool. We could all see how Bella had lived for Edward from the moment that she first arrived in Forks.

While other humans ran from us, Bella had slowly gravitated toward Edward. She felt none of the deep seated fear, none of the uneasiness that most humans rightly felt around us.

I had wanted to kill Bella when Edward rescued her from Tyler's van, she could have given us all away so easily. But I was grateful now that Alice had seen Edward and Bella's future together and stopped me. I could see now that I would have killed my brother at the same time I ended Bella's life. He had not yet admitted it to himself, but his life then, and ever since, was inexorably tied to Bella's.

I knew this because it had happened to me once. When I had entered that diner and found my little Alice waiting for me, that was the end of living for myself. From that day on I did not belong to myself anymore, I was completely Alice's. And I knew she felt the same towards me.

I laid my forehead against the cool stone wall of my cell. Maybe it was Bella's shield against Edward's mind that left him unable to accept her devotion towards him. Edward was so used to being able to tune into anyone's thoughts to read their true intentions that Bella had completely thrown him for a loop.

The fool had never been able to take Bella's word for what it was. Of course he believed that she loved him, but he had never allowed himself to understand how completely she belonged to him. Even though that fact was blatantly obvious to everyone else.

Just as I had grown to rely on my mood influencing power, so too had he grown used to leaning on his ability to read other's minds. I believed that his dependence on that mystical part of himself remained a barrier to his ever truly accepting Bella's dedication and love for him.

And that same reliance kept him now from fighting his way to her side. He truly believed that he was somehow helping her, by wallowing in grief in this prison. His downfall was his inability to accept Bella's unwavering love for him, to ever truly know that he was good enough for her.

As if it was his fault that random acts of fate had brought the Volturi down on top of us. As if his very existence was causing Bella pain, when all it had ever brought her was love and light. I had never thought of Edward as unintelligent before Bella entered his life, but the way he saw himself ever after...how many times had I used the word fool?

I sighed again and stared at the door. When we had first been thrown in here, it had taken all the self control I possessed not to crash through the door and run after Alice. That would not have been…tactful. Only my years of military training had stopped my rash thoughts from turning into reality.

Without Edward, useless as he was in his self imposed misery, I would not get very far. Either dropped by Jane, stopped in my tracks by Alec, or taken down by Felix, the result would be the same. I would never escape if I followed that route, never see my beautiful Alice again.

So I would wait. I could be patient. I knew that no enemy could keep up a constant, vigilant guard forever. Be it a month, a year, or several decades, the Volturi would slip. And I would be waiting. I will see my Alice again.

* * *

I had been ecstatic when Edward had charged into the house, carrying Bella in his arms the dawn after their wedding. I had never truly believed he would change her, even though I had absolute faith in Alice's visions, but he had. Inwardly, I was a bit ashamed at the reasons for my happiness.

For once, I would not be the one in the family with the worst self control. They could all worry about Bella and hover around her.

And also, I was relieved that Edward had finally found, and now changed, his other half. A part of me had always felt sad for Edward, sad that he had to go through immortality without someone like my Alice. I had once lived like that, and it had not so much been living as it had been just moving from day to day. Edward had changed when he met Bella. Though he definitely had his dark, brooding days, for the most part it was like a light had gone on for him.

The whole family had reacted to Edward's newfound happiness. Esme had glowed, delighted that her first son had found someone to love. Emmett was thrilled that Edward had perked up after meeting Bella and was more playful than his usual old, brooding self. Carlisle was proud that his son could resist the ultimate temptation of Bella's blood and allow love to blossom from hate. Alice was secure in her vision of the future and gleeful at the prospect of a new sister. Rosalie was…well, Rosalie. I was pretty sure that she was happy for Edward, deep down, but she had also been deeply shaken that Bella was willing to give up her human future to be frozen in time with Edward.

For the first week after Bella's transformation we had stayed at our house in Forks, but after her first hunting trip the rest of us had begun to quietly make plans. We all agreed that Alaska would be the best place for Bella's tenuous first year. She would act like she had gone off to college, and Carlisle would give the hospital some excuse or other for moving on. The rest of us would not be missed.

In the back of our mind during that week was always the threat of the treaty with the werewolves. We did not want to invite any trouble, so we decided the quicker we left the better. They may not even know yet that Bella had been bitten.

So ten days after Bella had left her humanity behind, we abandoned Forks. Bella had been eager to leave, she didn't want to chance coming across a human. Tension and fear at what she might do had been cascading from her ever since she woke as a newborn.

Edward had taken Bella alone in the Volvo, he had said that leaving Forks and Charlie was hard for Bella and he wanted to be alone with her on the journey. They were surrounded by the other members of our family, all alert for any newborn trouble.

I had decided to make the trip on Edward's motorcycle. I had never been much interested in cars, preferring to ride in the back and let Edward or Rosalie drive. But the motorcycle was much different. Maybe it was the pure speed which was almost as good as running, or maybe it was the fact that a motorcycle was much more akin to a horse, which was my first and only mode of transportation as a human. I had chuckled to myself at that thought, glancing sideways at Alice in her bright yellow Porsche beside me, wondering if she would find that thought as funny as I did.

We had looked ridiculous and very conspicuous to all the other drivers that had passed us during our nighttime getaway. Carlisle and Esme were in Carlisle's Mercedes, Emmett was driving his monstrous jeep, Rosalie following closely in her sporty red convertible, then Edward and Bella in his Volvo were trailed by Alice in her Porsche and me on the bike. We looked like one of those bad movies where the misunderstood heroes ripped off a lot of expensive cars. Except they would never be so stupid as to drive in a big, ripped off car caravan as we were.

After we had left civilization behind and entered into the wilds of Canada, we split up. Emmett and Rosalie raced off ahead while Carlisle and Esme had taken a longer, more circuitous road to enjoy the wilderness. Alice and I had trailed a short distance from Edward and Bella. Alice wanted to be close, just in case, but there had been no trouble. Bella didn't even so much as catch a whiff of a human on our flight from Forks and we made it to our isolated Alaskan house without trouble.

The following year had passed rather peacefully. Carlisle took the time away to study new advances in medicine online while Esme busied herself with small restoration projects. Alice and I hung around the house for the most part, though we occasionally flew into Anchorage for a getaway.

Edward never left Bella's side, not that she would have let him anyway. He began to teach her to play the piano and I had never seen him happier or more at peace.

We all found different ways to let Bella test her new abilities. Edward, always the fastest of us, had raced her for days at a time through the barren Alaskan backwoods. Neither could outrun the other, Edward's superior talent and Bella's newborn speed were equal. Edward was later able to console himself when I reminded him that Bella's speed would gradually fade as her newborn year waned.

Emmett challenged Bella repeatedly to arm wrestling matches, after she had first tested and then bested him at Edward's urging. He was never able to beat her and Rosalie soon grew bored with Alaska, so they left and went off by themselves to Europe for a while.

Bella always begged me in every spare moment to teach her to fight. So while Alice and a scowling Edward sat on the sidelines, watching, I slowly taught Bella how to fight. I showed her how to move beyond her brute strength, to fight by using more subtle moves. We also studied how to approach someone by examining their strengths and weaknesses and then use a planned approach.

It was Carlisle who had first broken through Edward's peace and Bella's fear and began to condition Bella to resist human blood.

He started slowly, first exposing Bella to articles of human clothing that still held their human scent. She had hated herself, the first time she was able to smell the scent on an old shirt. Her body had gone crazy with lust for human blood and her dark red eyes had glared and bulged in her frenzy to get at the human who had last worn the shirt.

Edward detested seeing Bella so upset and he had insisted that he didn't mind living isolated with her for the rest of his existence, but Carlisle and I had been firm on strengthening Bella's resolve against tasting human blood.

After she was able to resist the human scent on the clothes, Carlisle obtained donated human blood. Bella had to start her internal struggles against her true nature all over again.

At times I believed I felt almost as much agony as Bella. I could clearly remember the intense efforts and time it had taken me to change my ways. After so many endless years of never denying myself blood, it had been next to impossible to stop cold turkey. I would never have done it had it not been for Alice at my side. Now, I believed it was the same way for Bella. She hated to cause Edward pain through her struggles, so she tried twice as hard to resist the tantalizing scents and burning hunger.

Eventually the moment had finally come, though Edward and Bella both tried to delay it. She had to be exposed to real, living humans to ever fully be able to deny her thirst. Bella had been a vampire for almost three quarters of a year before we were finally ready to try in the middle of spring.

The night before Carlisle and I had scouted the perfect location. It was a mountain ledge, high above a little resort village. The scents of humans were carried by the wind all the way up to the high vantage point, but there was privacy and plenty of distance to control Bella.

I hiked up to our pre-chosen spot with Edward and Carlisle, the girls and Esme far ahead of us. We spoke quietly, trying to hide our words.

'This is a really rough time for Bella, the year is ending at university. Bella has Charlie convinced that she is going to take summer courses, but he has been pressuring her to come back to Forks for a visit in between semesters. Its hitting her harder than she thought it would.' Edward sighed and roughly kicked a rock out of his way.

Carlisle grimaced, clearly sympathizing. 'It's going to be rough no matter when we have to do this Edward, but it has to be done.' He put his arm lightly around Edward's shoulders, and I suddenly felt like an intruder. 'It will be much better to do it this way. None of us want her to run into a hiker while on a hunting trip, and you know that now summer is coming the odds of that are going to be even greater.'

He squeezed Edward's shoulder encouragingly before dropping his arm. 'Trust me, exposing her like this in a controlled environment is the best way. She'll be fine, Edward.'

I quickened my pace and caught up to them, clapping Edward on the back. 'Yeah, it'll be so nice when Bella can be around humans, it will all be worth it. Cheer up a bit, your acting like we're on our way to a funeral.' I inwardly cringed as Edward frowned. A funeral, not the best choice of words I could have used there.

We caught up to the girls right before we reached the cliff. Edward immediately went to Bella and took her hand and she smiled gratefully up at him. I focused my mind and began to transfer my calm to everyone else. From this point on, I would use every advantage I had to make Bella feel in control and at ease.

Alice's eyes were closed as she furiously concentrated. They slowly slid open and she smiled. 'You'll be ok Bella, I don't see you hurting anyone.' She leaned up onto her tiptoes to give Bella's cheek an encouraging peck, then she stepped back as I moved to Bella's other side and we rounded the corner.

A sharp gust of wind immediately crashed into us, and I could smell humans. I forced as much calm as I could outward, all the while tensing my body, ready to restrain Bella.

I heard a jagged gasp from beside me as the scent assailed her. I knew exactly what she would be feeling. Venom would instantly fill her mouth, her mind would try to give itself over to her ingrained hunting instincts and her throat would be consumed by flames.

Edward was speaking softly, urgently to Bella. 'You don't want to do this Bella. These scents belong to real people. It could be Angela, Ben, or even Charlie down there. You won't hurt them.'

I could feel the anguish and desire rolling in waves off of Bella. I winced, sharing her thirst. My power could only help her so much, in the end she had to be strong enough to resist.

The wind abated a little, giving Bella a brief respite from the torturous scents. She slumped noticeably and gazed up at Edward. 'I never gave you enough credit. I can't imagine how you do this day after day.'

He grinned. 'I have had a little practice, love.'

'But how did you defend against my blood, I can't imagine anything stronger than the pull I feel now. How did you ever resist?' Edward smiled tenderly down at her, making me once again feel like an intruder on some private scene. 'You had a hold on me that was greater than your blood, Bella.'

Alice slipped beside me and wove her fingers into mine, my much larger hand hiding her delicate fingers as I enclosed them within mine. Alice's love for me was the best thing in my world. At that moment I was very grateful that Edward had found something similar for himself.

We remained on the cliff for some time longer, letting Bella grow accustomed to the strong pull of human blood. After that first time, we took her almost every night. It was remarkable the progress that Bella made. When summer broke out in full force, she was able to get closer and closer to people without too much trouble.

Her desire to live amongst people without harming them drove Bella to throw herself headfirst into practicing. When Alice pointed out midsummer that the red in Bella's eyes was fading she was more determined than ever to get beyond her thirst.

When the time came to bring Bella among people we were all nervous, but we started out slow and Bella came out of all her trials with flying colors. She could now walk beside humans and keep her thirst under control.

Alice had insisted on throwing a party for Bella when she returned from hunting one day and her eyes were no longer an angry red, but a soft, buttery gold. For once Bella did not resist.

The Alaskan tourists had gradually started to fade away as the nights grew colder. We had heard from Emmett and Rosalie and they were ready to return so we could discuss our next move.

Then, our fragile little world all came crashing down.

Alice and I had been lying on the back porch, watching the stars come out. We were also looking at a world map in front of us, trying to pick out our choice for our next home. I had just pointed out that it rained a lot in London when Alice's eyes had gone blank and I knew she was seeing some vision of the future. I wasn't worried though, having lived with Alice as long as I had her visions were just a part of regular life. I absentmindedly traced a pattern along Alice's arm with my finger while I waited for her to come back to me.

Then she screamed.

I was on my feet in an instant, eyes and senses scanning the horizon for any possible threat. I couldn't find anything so I dropped to my knees in front of Alice, taking her face in my hands urgently.

'What is it Alice?!' I had never heard Alice utter a sound as terrified as that scream. I didn't know what to do, she was rocking back and forth on her heels now, moaning. 'No, no, no.'

Suddenly a shape came falling softly next to us, Edward had leaped out of his third story window. One look at his face made me snarl, my head whipping around to spot the unseen danger. His eyes were desperate and wild, his whole body shaking. I knew he had seen what Alice had seen.

Carlisle, Esme and Bella came out of the back door, their eyes on Alice. Bella knelt next to Alice and took her hand. 'Alice, tell us, what did you see?'

Alice finally opened her eyes, her usually musical voice stuttering. 'He's sent them for us, I don't know how I didn't see it before now, I'm so sorry everyone…Aro sent the guard.' Someone gasped. 'It must have been a split second decision, when I let him touch me before he must have figured out how my visions work.'

She blinked furiously and looked around at us all, her eyes finally stopping and lingering on me. 'They'll be here in less than three hours.'

Carlisle took Esme into his arms, Bella remained next to Alice and Edward stood, frozen. Suddenly he howled in absolute agony, his fingers tearing at his hair.

'You can't run Edward.' Alice spoke in a quiet, dead voice. 'Demetri is with them, it would only prolong the inevitable.'

I was confused. We had faced the Volturi before, and Bella was a vampire now. We had nothing to fear from a visit. Was Alice really so shaken that Aro had discovered a way around her visions?

I reached a comforting hand down to Alice. 'Its ok Alice, they're just coming to see if Bella is still human. They will see she is a vampire and they'll leave us alone.'

She shook her head, eyes seeing into the future again. 'No, Jasper.' She shuddered. 'Aro is incredibly interested in Bella, he wants to know if she has developed a special power.' Her voice lowered even more. 'And he always wanted me and Edward by his side. They will take us back to Volterra with them.'

Bella's eyes widened. 'But there is nothing special about me. I can still block Edward from reading my mind, but I can't do anything new!'

I frowned, still not understanding. 'But why would we want to go with them?'

Alice bared her flashing teeth and snarled. 'Of course we don't want to go with them. They will take us by force.'

So many intense emotions assaulted me all sides as my family reacted to Alice's vision.. I could barely keep my own emotions in check. My free hand reached out, flailing for the railing to support myself. The Volturi…were coming for us? They would force us to go with them? No, not my Alice.

Suddenly I was standing straight again, my eyes flashing with fire, my snarls joining Edward's in the night air. 'They won't get us without a fight.'

Esme whispered quietly behind me. 'We can't fight them, they'll overrun us. Carlisle, what can we do?'

Quiet filled the air as all eyes moved quickly to Carlisle. His face was bright with shock and he spoke slowly. 'I cannot believe Aro would take any of us against our will. But Alice has never been wrong before. I…I don't see anything that we can do. We will just have to try to talk them out of this.'

After Carlisle spoke we were all enveloped in our own thoughts. I could not take my eyes from Alice. Behind my back, the sun began to rise.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Hope Fades

**Edward's Point of View**

The Volturi would be here in less than three hours. They were going to come, and they were going to take Bella away from me.

Carlisle was sure we could talk our way out of this, but Alice's vision had echoed in my own mind and I knew that he was wrong.

After an hour of planning and discussing strategy with my family I had excused myself, stealing Bella away to the relative privacy of our room.

I grabbed Bella and crushed her to my body. I kissed her lips with a desperate intensity. After a moment she resisted and pushed me back.

'Edward, you're scaring me.' Her eyes were wide with fright.

I immediately tried to fake a comforting smile, though it probably came out as more like a weird, twisted grimace. 'I'll keep you safe Bella. I promise. No matter what happens I will keep you safe.'

I pulled her to me again and rested my chin on the top of her head. I closed my eyes and inhaled her lovely scent.

Why couldn't we be left alone? Ever since I had found Bella it had been nothing but threat after threat. I had always called Bella a danger magnet, yet she had managed to survive perfectly well before she had met me. My hands balled into fists as a new thought occurred to me. Maybe I had been right all along, I had never truly deserved Bella. Maybe our pairing went against the universe's design and ever since everything had been conspiring against our happiness.

Bella pulled back from me and gazed up into my eyes, hers were full of love and trust. If I still had a heart, it would have melted. My hands uncurled from their tight fists and I grabbed her hands in mine. I pulled them to my lips and kissed every knuckle on both her hands.

'Bella.' My voice was a velvety purr, filled with longing. 'I need you, Bella. Right now.' My hands fumbled at her clothing. 'I'm not sure about anything anymore. I need to be sure of you.'

She took my shaking hands in hers and leaned up on tiptoes, her lips brushing mine ever so lightly. 'Edward. My Edward. No one could ever separate us, be sure of that'

I moaned in frustration and searched her face for any sign of the fear that should be there, my eyes wild and crazy. 'You didn't see what I saw Bella!' My voice broke and I could no longer meet her eyes.

She took my chin in her hand and forced me to meet her gaze. 'It doesn't matter what Alice saw, Edward. I love you. We will get through this together.'

I had no idea where her confidence was coming from. Then she smiled tightly. 'This time, our family won't have to protect me. I can stand beside you.'

'Oh Bella no.' Of course, I should have seen this coming. She assumed that now she was a vampire and possessed our speed and strength that she no longer needed protecting, that nothing would be able to threaten her.

She kissed my unyielding lips, again and again, quieting me. Suddenly I realized that Bella had used her relatively newfound speed to undress us both while she had distracted me with her lips.

I looked into her tender eyes, mine full of dismay and hopelessness. She leaned in and kissed both of my eyelids closed, then gently pushed me onto our giant golden bed.

I reached frantically for her, pulling her on top of me. She positioned her hips over my hard length and pushed down on top of it. I allowed myself an exasperated sigh. The Volturi were coming to wrench our family apart in a few short hours, and the sight of Bella's naked body was still enough to sexually excite me.

I gripped her hips roughly with my hands, squeezing my eyes shut tighter as she began to move against me. She stroked my face tenderly, whispering her love for me over and over.

A conflict raged within me. On one hand, Bella was incredibly beautiful and I wanted to give myself over to the incredible sensations she was making me feel. And yet, on the other hand, the Volturi were coming to take her away and we should spend this time preparing or fleeing or something.

She leaned down overtop me, her breasts gently brushing against my chest as she licked the hollow of my throat. I groaned and arched my back towards her. The Volturi could wait, these last few hours were mine and Bella's alone.

When Bella was finally through with me I felt a newfound hope. Even though I trusted utterly in Alice's visions, there was now a louder part of me that refused to even entertain an existence without my shining meteor.

Bella and I dressed slowly, choosing our items with care. We were not sure what the next hour would bring, but at least we could prepare in even a small way. Bella dressed simply in green cargo pants, a black tank top, and low fitting hiking boots. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail. I wore boots of a similar kind, a pair of loose fitting khaki pants and a button down white collared shirt.

We stared at each other for a moment. Then I offered her my hand. She took it and we went out to join the others.

Alice and Jasper were already on the back porch, gazing out at the incredible Alaskan landscape. Alice glanced back when we arrived and snorted. 'Honestly Bella, I wish you would let me dress you.' She studied Bella's outfit with a wistful smile, probably imaging what could be.

I rolled my eyes. 'It's not like we're going to a garden party Alice.' My eyes took in her outfit. Alice had changed into a simple yet exquisitely tailored knee length red dress. She was wearing the stilettos to match.

Jasper turned to me for a moment and then his eyes flew back to Alice. 'I think she looks absolutely divine.' He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Alice threw a smirk over her shoulder at me and stuck her tongue out.

Before I could start to argue function over fashion, Esme and Carlisle joined us on the porch. The second I saw Carlisle's face it was like I had been split in two by a lightning strike. He was barely holding himself together. I swallowed hard. Of all of us, he best knew the power of the Volturi.

One glance at his side, to my mother, and I felt the two halves of me crumble into dust. She wasn't able to conceal her dread. She came to embrace each of us in turn, first Jasper, then Alice, then me, and last, to Bella. She held Bella longer than any of the rest of us, then returned to her place at Carlisle's side.

Jasper's thoughts leapt out at me. _I wish Emmett were here. He is going to be so mad that he missed an opportunity to get into a fight. _I shook my head in horror at Jasper, and whispered. 'No Jasper, Emmett would never let them separate us, they would kill him.'

Jasper frowned at my response. He still didn't understand the seriousness of our situation. I could hear from his thoughts that he still firmly believed that the Volturi would follow their rules. He believed they would confirm that Bella was now a vampire, repeat Aro's offer and then peacefully leave after we declined.

Oh how I hoped he could be right.

My small family stared out at the direction Alice had said they would come from, waiting. After a long while I realized I had forgotten to breath. Just as I took a deep breath I heard them.

Not their footsteps, not yet, but their thoughts. I raised an eyebrow. 'I'm flattered. Aro sent twice our number. Alec, Jane, and Demetri are among them.'

Jasper nodded. 'Both the freaky twins, not bad, not bad. He must have a lot of respect for us vegetarians.'

I concentrated. 'They are sending Demetri and a few of the others around to flank us, to block off any attempt at escape.'

One of the approaching guard's thoughts changed quickly, and I growled low in my throat as I became privy to his explicit fantasy about my wife. 'Felix is with them as well.'

Alice frowned and moved a step closer to Jasper. 'Two minutes.' Carlisle moved to stand in front of us, Esme just a step behind him.

We could all hear their approach now, slow and collected.

I turned the full force of my eyes on Bella, losing myself in hers like I would never see her again. I didn't look away from my love until the Volturi entered the clearing.

Carlisle stepped forward to meet them, a congenial smile plastered on his face, and greeted them all in turn.

Ignoring the forced pleasantries exchanged by Carlisle and the Volturi, my thoughts were pulled immediately to one of the guard in particular. I knew this had to be Chelsea, the one who could sever or strengthen people's emotional bonds. She was testing the power of my families' bonds, not yet trying to influence anything. Most likely she was just searching for a weak link. My upper lip pulled back, but I held in my growl. Let her try.

I smiled smugly as I listened to her disappointed thoughts. She had found no weak link among us.

I pulled myself back to the spoken conversation when I heard Bella's name.

Jane had inclined her head toward Bella. 'It is good she has finally been changed. Caius was beginning to have grave misgivings.'

Alice spoke up, her clear voice ringing forth like a bell. 'Aro saw the change in my visions, there should have been no doubt.'

Jane smiled at Alice. I winced. If she hurt Alice…'Ah, that reminds me. Aro once again extends an invitation for you to join our little family.' She looked away from Alice and glanced at each of us in turn. 'That invitation is open to all of you, of course.'

Carlisle smiled grimly and turned squarely to face Jane. 'I believe I am not out of line in speaking for my entire family, but I am sorry to say that we must still decline Aro's offer.'

This was it. I stiffened, my mind assessing the biggest threats while my body tensed for the inevitable leap.

I could hear Jasper's thoughts mirror my own.

A slow, poisonous smile slowly crept across Jane's face. 'Believe me Carlisle, no one is sorrier than I to have to hear that.'

And then everything vanished. A shocked gasp tore itself from my throat, but I couldn't hear it. I was blind. I couldn't smell. I couldn't feel anything outside of myself. I whipped around, searching for Bella.

I didn't know what was going on. I could feel frenzied sobs coming from my throat as I called for Bella, but that was all.

Then, just as abruptly as all my senses had vanished, they returned. I gathered my wits in a second and spotted Bella, her eyes were wide and she was staring at me, clearly in shock.

Two of the grey cloaked guard had Carlisle pinned to the ground and another held Esme's arms behind her back.

Jasper was snarling wildly and thrashing around, but he quickly dropped to the ground and I realized that Jane had unleashed the full force of her power on him.

Alice stood still, head hung. I knew she saw no reason to fight, for she had already seen the outcome. Two faceless grey cloaks stood on either side of her, each holding an arm.

Felix was headed straight for Bella. A feral snarl ripped from my throat as I leapt for him. He was clearly taken aback that I was able to find him, but he smoothly turned to meet me headlong.

The noise at our meeting was terrible. It was like two trains going top speed had collided. I tore at him, and he was just barely fast enough to evade my grasping strikes.

He was as strong as Emmett. In a fair fight, I would not have been his match. But this was not a fair fight. My mind was attuned to his thoughts and I was ready to react on a split second's notice to any decision he might make.

He stepped back from my furious attack, yelling to Alec. 'Take him down!'

I came at Felix again, missing his throat with my teeth by the barest of inches.

I could hear Alec's internal frustration as he tried to envelop me with the nothingness again. Something must be wrong, he couldn't get in, just like Jane and Aro and I had never been able to affect Bella with our abilities…

Then, in the second it had taken me to think all the aforementioned thoughts, it hit me. I risked a glance over my shoulder at Bella. Here eyes were closed, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. She was somehow, impossibly, shielding me too!

Felix crashed into my side, knocking me to the ground. I shoved my new discovery from my thoughts and jumped to my feet. I forced myself to concentrate on reading, and then blocking, my enemies' attacks.

I heard Bella's sharp intake of breath and I twisted away from Felix. I came to a stuttering halt, my body frozen in horror.

Chelsea had her arm around Bella's chest from behind, restraining her, and her mouth was at Bella's throat.

I groaned. Bella must have been concentrating on protecting me and Chelsea had taken her by surprise.

Chelsea's silky smooth voice whispered. 'Don't move Edward, Aro will be pleased enough to have you and Alice. He won't be too put out if we have to lose this one.' She inclined her head toward Bella.

I sensed him coming, but I made no move to protect myself. Felix smashed into me from behind, knocking me to the ground and twisting my arms up behind me. He slammed his foot down into the small of my back, wrenching my arms up at an odd angle. I felt nothing for myself, only terror for Bella.

I lifted my face from the dirt as high as I could, my eyes desperately seeking Bella's.

I was aware only of her face. Not of Esme's dry sobs. Not of Carlisle, pleading with Jane not to do this. Not of Jasper, as he howled in pain, for Jane had not let him go. Not of Alice, resigned, heartbroken at Jasper's suffering. Not of myself, of the pain slashing through my body as Felix gloated overtop me.

But only of her. My Bella. My beautiful, amazing angel.

My vision and other senses began to fade in and out. Bella was losing control, shielding me must be exhausting.

I whimpered as I dropped my face back into the dirt. 'Bella, oh Bella.' Then everything faded back to nothingness.

* * *

I let them drag me back to my cell, my body trailing limply along the ground. I had seen her. My wondrous angel. She had…saved me. Protected me from Jane and Felix. Not only had she used her ability to shield me again, she had also physically taken down Felix.

Not that I hadn't deserved every blow he had dealt me.

The guards wrenched open the door and threw me into the damp stone room, slamming the door behind me.

Jasper rushed forward and helped me lift myself off the ground. He sat me back against the wall, measuring me guardedly with his eyes. He must have noticed a change in me. I could hear his thoughts. _Damn, what did they do to him? He looks terrible. But…his eyes. They're different, somehow. Not dead, but…haunted? _

I turned my face away from his searching eyes. 'It was just Jane again.' I snorted and then winced. 'Nothing we haven't felt a hundred times over.'

I hid my face in my hands. 'I saw her Jasper, I saw Bella.' I shuddered and shivered. I ignored Jasper's shock.

'They took me as bait, to get her to practice her shielding ability.' I whispered, my mouth twisting into a mockery of my former dazzling grin. Jasper's curses filled my head.

'It worked. It worked quite well. All it took was for me to suffer a little bit of pain.' I shook my head as Jasper's thoughts recoiled at the idea of what a 'little bit of pain' had been in reality.

I threw my head back and howled. 'They just keep using me and using me to manipulate her!' I stretched my arms high and then coiled them behind my head, my fingers tearing at my hair. 'And I can't stop them!' Something between a howl and a shuddering sob broke from my lips. 'I can't protect her! I promised her I would protect her.' My voice broke, my body shaking uncontrollably.

'It's unbearable!' I leapt to my feet and fled from Jasper, hiding myself in the same dark corner he had retreated to the last time we had spoke.

I couldn't keep his desperate thoughts from invading my mind. _She loves you still Edward. Don't give up hope. Fight for her. For Bella._ _Be the man that she sees you as. Fight, Edward. Fight. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry if some chapters lately have seemed short or disjointed. I have some viewpoints and events coming up in later chapters that I am very excited to write, so its hard to force myself to focus on the chapters at hand. I hope they haven't been disappointing.**

Chapter 7: Subjugation

**Bella's Point of View**

The return trip to Volterra was perhaps the darkest time of my life.

I think, out of my entire new family, it was the worst for me.

Alec plunged all of the others into senselessness, yet I was unaffected. I don't even have words to name my emotions during the brief and futile defense we put up.

Seeing Carlisle held down on the ground was agony. Carlisle had always been such a peaceful, proud man. It made no sense that he would have to be held down against the ground. Why were they treating him like that?

Even worse was Esme. Arms held roughly behind her as her children were taken away from her.

Then Jasper, fighting and yelling for Alice. None of them had any idea what was taking place around them. I had known he was desperately afraid for Alice.

And my Edward…I can't describe what came over me. The second that Alec had him under his spell it was like my entire world had come to an end. I was frozen in place. I wanted to help him but I didn't know what I could do. But seeing him thrash around helplessly and call my name was more than I could take.

Then my head had started to buzz. I was so full of love and rage that I felt like my head would explode. And…it kind of had. That was the only way I can explain it.

One second I was feeling all those raw emotions, and the next it was like I _pushed_ outward, and a hazy white film had exploded from around me and encompassed Edward. I forgot for a moment that I was now a vampire and thought that I was beginning to pass out.

But as the seconds passed I realized that Alec's power had been lifted from Edward. I didn't even stop to think how that could be. But I instinctively knew it had something to do with the hazy fog that connected me with him so I started to concentrate, forcing the connection to hold.

Edward had fought for me. I knew he was giving everything he had to protect me, and for once I did not feel useless. I know had a role to play. I was shielding him, the one whom I loved more than life itself. I was finally doing my part to help him against our relentless enemies.

I was not strong enough to hold it. One of the Volturi trapped me from behind, and it became harder and harder to hold Edward inside my shield. It had faltered, and he had faltered soon after.

I almost couldn't bear to return the look he gave me at that moment. His eyes had melted as they met mine, and then I could see the utter defeat and hopelessness engulf him. I tossed my head back and howled, headless of Chelsea's razor sharp teeth at my neck. Nothing mattered save my Edward, lying in front of me, broken and defeated.

I would have given my entire future existence at that time if he could have been allowed to stand.

Time after Edward's fall had passed for me in a blurry mist of shapes and colors. None of it had mattered.

Edward, Jasper, Alice and I had been taken by the guard. Alice walked with her captors willingly enough. Jasper and Edward had been carried along. I think Jasper tried to fight back, but it was so very difficult for him with all of his senses shut down.

I had allowed myself a brief glimpse back at our once happy Alaskan home before we were out of sight. The guard had let go of Esme and Carlisle, but they would have no hope of reaching us until Alec's power wore off. I did not know what range his power was effective over.

When we were some distance away, I could just hear Esme begin to call Edward's name frantically.

I had paid little enough attention to where we were going, but eventually we ended up at one of Alaska's many tiny airstrips. I was not surprised in the least to see the Volturi had arrived in their own small private jet. We were all loaded on and carefully separated once inside. Alec's spell still held sway over all the rest.

During the entire trip I did not take my eyes off Edward, though every second I did tore little pieces off me away from my body. The Volturi did not speak during the trip. Or perhaps I had just not cared to notice.

When we had landed we were quickly ushered into a military style helicopter. Aro must have wanted us within the castle's walls as soon as possible.

The helicopter touched down on a private helipad right next to the castle. We were ushered straight inside, but once we entered the sickeningly familiar hallway where we had met Gianna, Jasper and Edward were taken through a different door then Alice and I.

The moment I realized that we were to be split up, I made a last, desperate lunge for Edward. My fingers managed to brush his arm. With a sickening lurch of my stomach I realized that he had not even been able to feel my fingers.

I didn't know if I held onto any hope of seeing Edward again.

Alec had gone with the other party. I heard a strangled gasp from Alice as her senses flooded back to her and surefooted Alice stumbled.

We were taken into the dark tower room with the grate in the middle. I had never wanted to see this room again.

I immediately recognized Caius and Aro, waiting for us in the middle of the room in front of the grate. Marcus was slouching in one of the high backed chairs, not even acknowledging our presence with a look. Aro's milky white eyes were fairly sparkling as he welcomed us to Volterra.

'I really must apologize for any rough treatment that occurred on your trip. I want you to know that while you live here, you will be treated with the utmost respect and civility. This is to be your home now, and I would hate if we were to start off on the wrong foot.' He smiled gently at us.

I had no response. My mouth gaped wide open. How he could speak to us like that after ripping us from our family, I had no idea. I felt Alice stiffen beside me, but she did not speak either.

Caius scowled, I didn't believe that he shared in Aro's warm feelings towards us. Aro swept forward, his hand outstretched. Alice and I both jumped back.

Aro held his hands up innocently in front of him. 'I would just like to get reacquainted with you, it's seemed like ever such a long time since we last had an opportunity to talk.'

Alice snarled, her eyes flashing dangerously. Aro frowned.

'Now really, Alice, I would have expected a little better manners to come from one such as you. I truly mean you and Bella no harm.'

He took another step toward Alice. She tried to shrink away but Felix and Demetri moved up behind her, blocking any escape.

Aro took her hand in his and she winced as if she had been physically struck. His eyes closed as he absorbed the new information. 'Ah yes. I thought as much.' His eyes opened and he studied Alice closely.

'I am most excited to finally have you as one of us, my dear. I have always believed that you were special beyond any I had ever met before.'

I noticed that Jane scowled jealously at Aro's words. I filed that fact away for future reference.

Aro turned suddenly from Alice to face me. 'And Bella! Beautiful Bella! I see that Edward finally made the right decision and you have become one of us.' He chuckled lightly as he held out his hand for me. 'May I?'

I did not let myself flinch as I stepped forward. I knew my shield was still in place and I had nothing to fear from him. I held my hand out to him. He took it eagerly, and then a disappointed frown flittered across his features. It vanished after a moment.

'I see you are still as closed off as before. How remarkable. And yet, I see from our little Alice here that you were not able to develop any further abilities. That is…' His voice faltered a little. 'Disappointing. I had been so very hopeful…'

His eyes turned greedily on Alice, like a drug addict would look at his next fix. I felt sick. He turned back to smile at me. 'But do not worry Bella, we will find a place for you in our family.'

He motioned for Renata and the rest of his personal bodyguard to follow. 'I am sorry, but I am going to have to excuse myself. Caius and I have to go greet the other two new members of our family. I'll have Maria take you to your new quarters.'

Aro, Caius and their guard swept from the room. Marcus remained behind, his eyes trailed on the ceiling as if he had just discovered a new Michelangelo up there.

With a start I realized a human had entered the room. My throat flared into flame and I shut my eyes. Alice found my hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

Olive skinned, impeccably dressed and coifed Maria approached us briskly and offered to show us to our rooms. Alice tugged my hand and we followed her. We knew we had no other choice. If Maria was the new human receptionist I briefly wondered what must have happened to Gianna. I glanced back in the tower room and my eyes found the grate in the middle of the room.

I was pretty sure I could guess what had happened to the Volturi's old secretary. I was startled to realize I felt no sympathy for her. So what if she had ended her life in the dark tower room? It would have been no more than she would have been willing to hand out to others, had she been granted her wish and been invited to join her masters.

We rode down the elevator and came out in an opulently decorated hallway. This must be where all the guard had their own private rooms. Maria led us at a vigorous pace three fourths of the way down the hall before she stopped in front of a dark mahogany door.

'This will be your room. Aro had assumed you two would prefer to share, though different arrangements can always be made if you would like your own rooms.'

Alice cut her off with a cold glare. 'This will be perfectly fine.' She opened the door and pulled me behind her.

Maria called after us. 'There is a call button beside the door if you would require…' Alice cut her off by slamming the door.

I gaped at the room, astonished. It looked like what I had always imagined Marie Antoinette's bedroom had been like. There were two sumptuous four postered beds with curtains. Why the Volturi had beds, I didn't know. It must just be for show. The walls were covered in rich tapestries and dark paintings. They looked centuries old.

Alice had sunk down onto one of the beds, and I quickly went to her and put my arms around her shoulders.

'Oh Bella.' Alice hid her face in my shoulder. 'Jasper is in darkness and pain. I can't see him ever leaving. I can't find a future where any of us are free.'

I stroked Alice's hair softly to calm her. I did not feel any more hope than she did, but I felt in that moment that I would have to keep hope for all of us.

'Alice we have to be strong. You know the future can change in an instant. Nothing is set in stone.' I hugged her tightly to me, as she used to hug and comfort me when I had been human.

She looked up at me, her eyes wide and desperate. 'If only I could see Jasper…but I can't even find a future where we are together.'

I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm for the both of us. I was casting around looking for something to say but at that moment we were interrupted by a knock at the door.

I called out for whoever was at the door to come in. 'You probably would have just come in anyway.' I mumbled under my breath before the door opened.

I groaned. It was perhaps the last vampire I wanted to see. Felix sauntered into the room. 'Hello girls, pretty nice place you have here.'

Alice and I just glowered at him.

He scowled. 'That's not very welcoming. I was just coming to see if you two needed anything.' He turned his face at me and winked slyly. 'And I do mean _anything_ Bella, you just let me know and I am your man.'

'Not interested.' I snapped.

He shrugged. 'That's what you say now. But these cold Volterra nights can get pretty dark and lonely by yourself.'

I growled low in my throat, Alice tensing beside me. 'I am not alone. Edward is my husband.'

He threw his head back and laughed loudly. 'You married Edward? How very _sweet_. But has no one told you yet? I'm _so_ sorry to be the bearer of bad news.' He paused for dramatic effect.

He didn't look sorry at all. I swallowed roughly, suddenly nervous. Was he going to tell us what happened to Edward and Jasper?

'Aro and Caius just got back from having a little chat with your boyfriends. It looks like your not going to be seeing too much of your pretty boy from here on out.' He took a step closer to me, completely ignoring Alice who was now snarling warningly deep in her throat.

'Wouldn't you like to be with a real man anyway, honey? I can show you things that he would never have been capable of.' I stared at Felix in shock and disgust, Alice leaned forward a little toward him, ready to spring.

'I can take you places you've only dreamed of.' He licked his lips and took another step closer to me, a wicked glint in his eye.

Suddenly our door flung open again. A short, lanky vampire with shoulder length dirty blonde hair and narrowed scarlet eyes took quick stock of the situation. A wide smile blossomed on his face. He spoke in a thick, singsong Irish accent.

'Terribly sorry, but I couldn't help overhearing what was going on here as I passed by. It didn't sound like it was about to end well so I came in to see if anyone needed any help.' At his last words his gaze flickered to me and Alice.

Alice glowered at him and spoke coldly. 'We know how to defend ourselves, thank you. We were just about to kick this one' her head inclined toward Felix, who had frozen in his tracks 'out.'

Felix smiled, his eyes never leaving me. 'I was just leaving anyway.' He turned to go, then threw a glance back at me. 'Remember my offer Bella, my door is always open to you. Just shout my name if you want me.'

He winked again and left, shooting a tight smirk at the intervener as he left.

Our would be rescuer held his hand out to Alice. 'Names Corin. Nice to meet you.'

She glared and kept her hands stiffly at her sides. Without missing a beat he held his hand out to me. I mirrored Alice's reaction.

He lowered his hand after a few moments and smiled sadly at us.

'Well, I suppose I already know you two. Alice and Bella, right?' We held our stony silence.

His cheery smile finally wavered and he looked away from us, suddenly very interested in one of the tapestries. 'I know your story. Everyone around here does, really. I am not going to say I agree with Aro in forcing you to join us. But theres really nothing that can be done about it. You may as well try to make the best out of your situation.'

As we continued to glare quietly at him, he shifted from foot to foot, obviously beginning to grow nervous.

'We're not all of us as bad as Felix. He's just sexually repressed.' He laughed at his own joke. 'Most of the girls around here are taken, and Heidi keeps refusing him. She prefers Demetri.'

Suddenly I was not able to hold onto my cool demeanor any longer as he kept prattling on. 'Stop. Just stop.' My eyes flashed with anger and my body shook noticeably.

'We don't want to get to know any of you. We don't want to fit in. We were brought here against our will. As far as I am concerned, we are prisoners.' My upper lip pulled back in a silent snarl. At that moment I wished that all the movies and books had been true and vampires really did have fangs. I wanted to look as threatening and non-friendly as I could.

'We can protect ourselves. So please, just leave us alone.'

Corin's smile wavered and then it strengthened, though his eyes had become sad. 'Regardless, let me know if you two need anything, or if anyone bothers you.'

He strolled from the room, whistling a cheery tune under his breath and pulled the door shut behind him.

Alice and I turned toward each other. Her eyes became indescribably miserable and I realized she must have been searching for Jasper in the future again. Her face crumpled and I hugged her to me.

* * *

I was surprised when Heidi stopped by my room a few days after the practicing incident. She told me to meet with everyone in the tower room because we had a job. The Volturi guard had gone on several 'jobs' after Alice and I had been forced to join them, but we had yet to be sent along.

I frowned as I made my way to the tower. Aro couldn't possibly believe that I was beginning to finally accept my new life. It made me incredibly nervous that I was being sent out with them because I had no idea what it meant for me.

I stopped in front of the wide tower door and took a deep breath to compose myself. I had always been resolved to never show weakness in front of Aro or Caius.

After I had settled myself I pulled lightly on the door and stepped inside. Aro looked up and held his arms out. 'Ah good, dear Bella is here so we can begin.'

I risked a glance at Alice, who, as usual, was next to his side as if she were chained there. She looked dull and lifeless, just a faint shadow of her former bright self. I had to squeeze my eyes shut tightly to calm myself. Felix strode over and stood close to me. I sighed.

Caius stepped forward to address the guard. 'Aro has become privy to some startling new information. In just a few short days two of our kind will make themselves known to humans. Which, as you all know, is the one small thing that we ask the vampire population never do.' He grinned evilly. 'So we will step in, naturally, on behalf of all our kind and keep our secret.'

'But they haven't done anything.' I was shocked to realize that I had spoken. Caius scowled and glared at me. 'They haven't done anything _yet_, Bella, but they will.'

I took a step forward. I had to try as hard as I could to control my voice. 'Aro knows how Alice's visions work. A couple days are a long time. They could change their minds in a heartbeat. You can never be completely sure that one of her visions will come to pass.'

Caius spoke harshly. 'The safety and secrecy of our world can not be left to what ifs or possibilities. We have the tools know to catch the rule breakers before the act. We will not wait.' He turned away from me dismissively.

I seethed quietly but kept silent. If I was going to be included on this particular job then I wasn't going to say anything further to jeopardize my chances at going. If I were there, on the spot, maybe I could do something to help the doomed vampires.

Caius gestured to a few of the guard. 'Jane will be in charge of this mission, and she will be taking Demetri, Felix, Corin and Bella. I expect to be notified as soon as the problem is taken care of.' He turned and returned to his throne, ending the conversation.

All of the named vampires turned to leave immediately, I followed behind but was stopped by Jane. 'Aro asked me to remind you what a terrible, needless shame it would be if you did not return with the others from the job. None of us want to see poor Edward hurt.'

I took ten seconds to recite the opening scene of Rome and Juliet in my head, distracting myself from the overwhelming desire to rip Jane's arms from her body.

'Tell Aro he has nothing to worry about, I have no intention of abandoning Edward, as he well knows.' I whirled on my heel and quickly followed the others out. I did not trust myself to remain in the same room with Jane for another second.

We took the private jet. Apparently the future break in secrecy would come in some small town in Russia. I had never heard of it.

I was pleased when Demetri, Felix and Jane all rode in the cockpit. Corin was nowhere near as offensive to me as the other guard members, and he had kept his distance after our initial meeting.

That pleasure quickly evaporated as he came to sit next to me shortly after takeoff. I sighed at him. 'Corin, this whole plane is empty, would you mind picking another seat?'

'Sure thing.' He smiled brightly at me and moved to the seat directly in front of mine, then swiveled back to stare at me.

'That's not exactly what I meant…' I turned and stared out the window.

He ignored my actions and went right on talking. 'I was wondering if you would tell me the story behind your eyes.'

I frowned and kept looking out the window. 'You've been my escort on hunting trips before, you know the golden color comes from drinking the blood of animals only, not people.'

'Yes, I did know that.' His voice never wavered from its sickening cheeriness. 'I was wondering more about the _why_.'

I finally looked back at him, and spoke very slowly as if he was not the sharpest tool in the shed. 'You were not born a vampire, were you?'

He grinned, clearly taking no offense at my tone. 'Nope.'

I continued in the slow voice. 'Then you were once human.'

He nodded again. 'A long time ago.'

'Tell me. When you were human, would you have appreciated being a vampire's late night snack? Or maybe you're parents, or you're children? Do unto others Corin.' I made a face. 'I can no more feed on a human than I could have when I was still human. Vampires don't need human blood to survive. It's horrific to end their lives like that.'

Corin listened patiently through my speech and then shook his head slowly.

'You had a much different experience with humanity than I did.'

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. His smile was still in place, but his eyes had taken on a distant look.

He caught me looking and grinned. 'We have a long ride ahead of us Bella, would you like to hear my tale?'

I resigned myself to having to listen to Corin talk for the entire trip, so I nodded. At least this way I could probably tune him out and not have to answer very often. I allowed myself a tight smile. He was kind of like the vampire version of Jessica.

'I lived in Ireland. In the year that was later labeled 82 AD Rome sent a small force into Ireland to help an exiled king, Tuathal, regain his throne. Agricola was the Roman general who had taken over most of Britain, so he naturally commanded the small incursion into Ireland.'

I was surprised to find that I was actually listening to his story, all traces of resentment gone as curiosity overcame me.

The ever present cheeriness bled out of his voice as he spoke. It was slowly replaced with a sharp bitterness.

'Agricola was not a kind man. An effective man, there was no doubt about that. But definitely not a kind man. After his mission was over and they had placed the Roman's choice for king on the throne, he headed back to Britain. Agricola was unsure at the time if he would be ordered to take Ireland in the future, so he decided to leave behind a reminder of Roman might that he hoped the people of Ireland would not easily forget.'

He paused, and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was reliving a far distant time. 'I lived in a small coastal town with my family. I was a fisherman of small means, but I had a good life, a happy life. I had a wife and four young boys. My family was my entire world. I would have done anything for them. I don't remember much of that first life now, but I do remember the end.'

His lip curled up at the side and he snarled softly. I wasn't even sure he was aware that he had snarled. 'We had no warning of Agricola's approach. His auxiliary marched on the town at first light. I had just gone down to my boat to prepare for the coming days' work. My two oldest boys were with me. By the time we saw the smoke and heard the screams it was already too late.'

He stared, unseeing, out the window of the plane. 'I should have taken my two sons in my boat and fled the shore. I would have been able to hide in the small chain of islands offshore, I knew them well. But I did not. I raced back to my home, my sons following closely behind. It was futile. My wife and my other sons were already dead. I saw their blood soaked bodies lying on the ground in front of our home.'

He became silent for a long time. I didn't push him to speak, I patiently waited for him to continue. I knew this story was not going to have a happy ending, nor could it be an easy one to tell.

'The soldiers were upon us before I could even pick up a weapon. They slaughtered my two sons in front of my eyes as they held me back. They were saving me to join the small group of surviving men who would become their symbolic warning to Ireland. I was nailed to a cross along with the others. The soldiers slashed a hole in my side and then hoisted my cross straight up into the air.'

'The Roman soldiers marched away, leaving us to die a slow, excruciating death.'

He was silent again, I was beginning to think his tale was done when he finally whispered. 'I was on the cross for two days and nights. The cries of the others had become silenced one by one. I don't know how I held on for as long as I did. I must have lost most of my blood and I was severely dehydrated. I was sure I was hallucinating when I felt myself being lowered from the cross. Then the burning began.'

He shook his head slowly as if awakening. 'There had been a vampire traveling through. He had been drawn to our town by the scent of all that blood. Apparently I was the only survivor and he took pity on me while admiring the strength that I must possess for having lived so long beyond anyone else.'

'He left shortly after I awoke but before he explained what he had done to me. I was enraged at the scent of all the spilled blood around me and I gorged myself. I do not know if my thirst drew me back to my family. I did not take time to look at the bodies I drank from.'

His eyes suddenly met mine, their intensity making me want to turn away.

'So no Bella, I am afraid I am going to have to disagree with you on that point. The only horrific thing about humans is that they are, by their very nature, vile and heartless beings. They were put on this earth as our food source, nothing more.'

He let his gaze drop and his cheery smile slowly returned. 'I'm sorry to have answered you with such a long tale. I remember you saying something about wanting to be left alone.' He grinned at me one more time then retreated to the back of the plane.

I shuddered. It was hard to imagine such terrible things as Corin had described. I had to admit to myself, if any vampire had a reason to hate humans, it was surely him.

Several hours later the plane descended. Corin had the door opened for me with a smile and I disembarked with the others into a blizzard. If I had still been human I wouldn't have been able to see a foot in front of my face. As it was, the thickly swirling snow and howling winds lessened visibility a lot. There was a low building in the distance that was halfway buried in snow.

I almost smiled when I stepped onto the snow and did not sink in. I was allowing myself to remember back to the first real snow I had experienced as a vampire in Alaska. I had been delighted to discover that we did not sink into the snow but walked lightly overtop it.

Demetri pointed us in the direction of a far off village. We could just make out the glow of its lights in the thickly swirling snow. We all headed there at a light run.

I began to feel nervous again, wondering if there was anything I could do to stop what was about to happen.

We stopped when we reached the first building of the small village and Jane turned expectantly to Corin. 'Can you find them?'

My curiosity became piqued again as I wondered if Corin had a special ability.

He turned his body from one extreme edge of the village to the other. He stopped and pointed. 'They are together in the house farthest northwest.'

The Volturi guard moved slowly through the village, all but invisible in their trailing grey cloaks. I had left mine in a heap on the floor of the plane.

I lingered behind the others to talk in a quiet whisper to Corin. 'Do you have a special ability for locating people?'

He laughed softly. 'I guess you can call it that. I probably come the closest of any of our kind to fulfilling the characteristics of a fictional vampire.'

I raised my eyebrow, wondering what he meant.

'When I became a vampire I realized that I had a sort of echolocation. I can determine the location of items, or people, by reflecting sound waves around me. Just like a bat.'

Something occurred to me and I frowned, confused. 'But how could you find the vampires specifically out of all the other people in the village?'

He flashed me another grin. 'Vampire bodies are not like human bodies. We are made of tougher stuff.' He knocked on his chest. 'The sound waves bounce differently off a vampire than they would a human.'

I nodded. 'That sounds…useful.'

We had arrived at the house that Corin had identified. The door was opened for us and two vampires stood waiting. There was a man and a woman, they were both petite with short, dark hair. They smiled and welcomed us inside.

I blanched at the thought of anyone welcoming the Volturi guard into their home, but composed myself. I needed to wait and see how things developed.

The happy vampire couple motioned to some simple wooden chairs and asked us what brought so many of our kind to their small village.

I took a deep, steadying breath. Here we go.

No one took the offered chairs. Jane stepped forward. 'We are representatives of the Volturi.'

The man glanced at all of us warily, he must have recognized the meaning behind that word and he was quickly becoming nervous.

Jane continued. 'You will, in one day's time, reveal our secret world to a human.'

The woman gasped and clutched her mate's arm. His eyes narrowed.

'The penalty for breaking our most sacred rule is death.'

The woman rushed forward and fell to her knees in front of Jane. 'No, we haven't told anyone.' She begged in broken English. 'Please, we have done nothing wrong.'

Jane looked down disdainfully at the woman, like one might look at a pesky fly.

'No, you have not yet, but you will.'

Her mate rushed forward and put his hands on her shoulders. 'Sophie knows nothing of this. It was I that was going to tell.' He spoke tremblingly, intimidated by all the grey cloaks surrounding him.

'It's my…father. He is dying. He thinks I was killed many years ago, that I froze when I was caught in a blizzard. He is all alone now, and I was going to reveal myself to him so that he would not have to die alone. It would make him so very happy to know that I lived on...' His words trailed off as he looked at the faces around him, searching for hope or a friendly face.

It was almost too much for me to handle. I felt like everything was spinning. I was thinking of my own father, of Charlie. What if he was dying, all alone? Would I not run to him as well?

I stepped forward and the man quickly glanced at me, hope brimming in his eyes. 'Jane, Aro had it all wrong. There can be no harm in him telling his father. His father would be dead soon anyway. No one will know our secret. It's ok.'

Felix hissed at me and Jane scowled. 'The old man could tell others before his death, we can't risk it.' Jane held up her hand, and I knew if she dropped it the rest of the guard would carry out the execution.

'No! This isn't right!' I placed myself in between the Russian vampire couple and the Volturi. The short woman gripped my arm tightly, she was clearly terrified.

'Bella, get out of the way.' Demetri snarled and grabbed for my other arm. I growled and crouched, prepared to defend the couple, readying myself to cover the Russians with my shield.

What happened next was a blur.

Jane dropped the man to the floor with a smile as he screamed in pain. Corin lurched forward and tackled me to the ground while Felix and Demetri leaped over me to get at the couple.

Corin was dragging me from the small house as the sickening, metal wrenching sounds began. I struggled furiously against him.

He threw me down face first in the snow and held me down, furiously whispering close to my ear. 'Bella get control of yourself. If you would have fought to defend them Jane would have loved nothing more than to have ordered your death on the spot. You may not bother to look around you but the rest of us can see it plain as day. Jane hates you and Alice, she thinks that Aro's favor will lie with you two and he will not value her and Alec as highly.'

I stopped struggling, barely hearing his words as my mind was filled with images of Charlie.

'Much better. Do you promise to behave yourself if I let you up?' I nodded numbly and he let me go. I stood slowly.

Corin's tone softened and he put a hand on my shoulder. 'There was nothing you could have done. Once Aro hands out a death sentence, no one can change that.' I shrugged angrily out from under his hand. He smiled sadly at me, but we were interrupted by the remainder of the guard leaving the house.

Felix and Demetri began to casually set fire to the house as Jane left, heading for the plane without a glance at me.

I spent the entire return trip sitting by myself in silence. I couldn't get the man's words out of my head. I knew I would have done the same thing. I would never let Charlie die, alone and forgotten.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Turning of the Tide

**Edward's Point of View**

I did not know how long it had been since the Volturi had last come to us. But now the door was slowly opening, and Felix came strutting inside, snarling darkly at Jasper.

'Get back, Scars. Aro reminded us that you were probably overdue for a feeding.'

Felix held the door open wide as an annoyed looking Heidi pushed a small herd of sheep into our dark cell. She pulled her upper lip back in distaste. 'Its disgusting how you all feed. Depriving yourselves of the finer things in life.'

She threw one last revolted glance at us and quickly bolted from the room, calling Felix to follow.

Jasper sighed. _Why do they insist on feeding us in such a demeaning manner?_ His military background quickly kicked in and he answered his own question. _To dehumanize us, of course. Or rather, devampirize is a better word. At least it's not the usual pigs or chickens this time, eh Edward?_

I stepped out of the shadows and humored Jasper with a tight smile.

He made a chopping motion in the air, cutting midway down the small, ragged herd of sheep. 'My half, your half?'

I nodded and he immediately went to it. I knew he had been starving, the Volturi did not feed us nearly as often as we needed.

Jasper was almost all the way through his half when suddenly my breath caught in my throat. Previously hidden by his mother, a tiny lamb bleated in fear as he became exposed to the cold, drafty cell. It was as if Jasper reached for the lamb in slow motion.

Without even realizing what I was doing, I snarled and launched myself across the cell, crouching defensively in front of the terrified animal. Jasper withdrew, bewildered at my sudden ferocity. _All right man, you can have that one. Its ok, I'll take one of yours_.

I shook my head, finding myself astounded at my own actions. Then I remembered.

There had been a bright, sun filled meadow. I had sat closer to Bella than I had ever before dared. I had spoken…And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.

I sequestered the lamb from the other sheep and then quickly finished my half off. I returned to the frightened lamb and sat next to it. Jasper looked between me and the lamb, his forehead furrowed in confusion. 'Are you saving that for a late night snack?'

I growled warningly at him. 'Drop it.' He shrugged and began to casually check the dead sheep, making sure he had not missed any blood.

I leaned my head back against the stone wall, letting my eyes fall closed as I remembered more of mine and Bella's earlier, happier times together.

I came back to the present with a shock. The lamb had laid his head in my lap and snuggled up against me. What a stupid lamb. He must not yet have developed the instincts to recognize that I was dangerous.

I ignored Jasper's laughter and placed my hand gently on the lamb's side. I softly stroked his fur. What a sick, masochistic lion.

I sighed. How had everything gone so utterly wrong? I had fought the battle with the monster that lived within me, and I had won. I had always tried to shield Bella from everything in the world that was evil and wrong.

But I had failed miserably. She was now forced to work for Aro and live among the Volturi. I hung my head, shame pressing down against me.

Nothing would hold her here if I did not exist. Why did my very existence have to cause her so much pain? Only misery and never ending pain.

Jasper's earlier thought wormed its way into my head. _She loves you still, Edward._ I frowned.

How could anyone love one such as I, who caused nothing but pain?

I remembered back to the start of our relationship. How we had always argued the point of who cared more about the other. My frown deepened. She had always been so sure that it was her own love for me that was stronger than mine for her. I had always dismissed her words as ludicrous.

If only I had been strong enough to stay away. But that memory of Bella the night she lost herself in the woods after I had left her…She had been utterly broken by my clean break.

I continued to stroke the now sleeping lamb's soft fur as my mind became torn. I knew that if Bella could hear my thoughts right now she would be horrified that I was seeing us in such a way.

She would insist that I was the best thing in the world for her, and that she loved me more than I could ever possibly know.

I sighed sadly. If only I could have a few seconds inside her head, just to be certain of her love for me. To make sure that she did not regret any of the choices she had made.

The lamb bleated softly in his sleep and I gazed down at him, concerned. It was probably too cold in here, and I most assuredly was not helping that fact. I gently lifted the lamb's head from my lap and situated him next to me.

Less than a minute later the lamb's head was back in my lap and he was cuddled ever closer. I rolled my eyes. Why were defenseless, beautiful and breakable creatures so drawn to me?

I went back to my former thoughts, retreating into my self imposed loathing. But ever since the lamb had returned, a new thought had begun nagging at me.

I tried to shut it out, but it refused to be silenced. It sounded a lot like Bella's voice. Don't you trust me, Edward?

I scowled. Of course I trusted her. I'd trusted her enough to tell her my families' secret when I'd barely known her.

Again, Bella's voice lectured me. Then don't you dare doubt my love for you, Edward Cullen. My shoulders slumped and the lamb nudged my hand.

It wasn't really her I doubted, it was myself. I knew the monster that lived inside of me. I had unleashed him many years ago. I had let him control my actions, allowed him to give me a god complex. A creature as pure as Bella could not have been meant for one stained such as I.

I could almost see Bella's eyes flash angrily. Never a monster, Edward. No, never that. You're my guardian angel.

Again, I winced. An angel of death, perhaps. And there was Bella's voice again in my head. Trust me, Edward. I love you.

With my perfect memory, I could remember each and every time Bella had ever told me she loved me. I lowered my head. If I could, I would have wept.

**Jasper's Point of View**

Ever since Edward had stopped me from killing the lamb, I had felt his inner torment escalate. This was not the same kind of torment that I had grown so used to feeling from him. It was…like he was warring with two different parts of himself. I silently cheered for Bella's Edward.

Time was hard to mark, locked away from all outside influences as we were. But for the longest time, I experienced the emotions which now spilled out from his body.

I did not use my power to help him. This was something he had to do on his own.

Just because I was not going to use my power to influence his critical decision did not mean that I couldn't root for him. When it gets dark enough Edward, you can see the stars, I thought.

I jumped when he actually answered my silent musing. 'That's a beautiful, encouraging expression Jasper.'

I grinned, finally allowing myself to look at him. 'It was in a fortune cookie.'

Edward laughed. I cautiously sampled his mood and squeezed my eyes shut tight.

'Yes!' I hissed. 'Welcome back, my brother.'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Of Faults and Sacrifices

**Emmett's Point of View**

Why did everyone have to make this so much harder than it was?

'Carlisle, we have to do something.' And there it was, for the 2,000th time. Carlisle's gaze would fall, he would ignore my words and shuffle off to his office. 'It's been over a month!' He wouldn't look back.

Esme would smile sympathetically at me. And then I would leave the room. I was no good at comforting my mother. If I tried I usually just made it worse.

I shoved my hands deep into my pockets and frowned as I heard a rip. Fists through the pants pockets again. I have to get my frustration under control.

I shuffled off to the garage, knowing that was where I would find my Rose.

There she was, her feet just protruding from under Edward's Volvo. I gently nudged one of her feet with mine, then leaned back against the Volvo.

'Rose, tuning the Volvo's engine every day is not going to make Edward come home.' I heard her sharp intake of breath and braced myself for the storm that was coming.

She was out from under the car in less than a second, her eyes flashing. I shrugged and stared off into the distance.

'I know very well that nothing I can do will bring him home!' She jabbed a finger under my chin and I rolled my eyes.

'It's not like your doing anything to help him either, are you?!' She growled, probably because I would not meet her eyes. She shoved me roughly back into the car.

I finally looked at her in time to see her face crumple, she brushed past me and started to smooth out the dent that my body had left in the car.

I caught her hands up in mine and met her eyes. 'Rose, his name is Edward.' I swore she flinched when I said his name.

We had arrived back in Alaska just a day after our brothers and sisters had been taken by the Volturi. Ever since Carlisle and Esme told us what had happened, I had never heard Rose call Edward by his name.

She wrenched her hands from mine and I thought she was going to make a run for it. After taking two quick steps she stopped in her tracks. Her head drooped low against her collarbone and her shoulders shook.

I had to make a physical effort not to rush to her and comfort her. I knew my Rose's moods and she would appreciate if I left her be at a time like this. I was just thinking that I should slip past her outside the garage and give her some privacy when she spoke, very softly.

'You've never understood, but it's my fault they're all gone.' Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. 'I never gave Bella a chance. I was so sure she was throwing away her happiness. How dare she, I always thought. She was so young, and she was going to just walk away from everything like that.'

She laughed bitterly. 'But she wasn't throwing her life away at all. She was sharing it with my brother. And in doing that, she was also giving him new life.'

Her head rose as she stared off at some far away sight. 'Vanity. That's all I have, Emmett.'

I wanted to tell her that she was wrong. I wanted to scream at her that she was so much more. That she was my life, my love, my Rose. That she was good and kind and loving. But I remained silent. I knew she was not finished and that she had to get all of this out.

After a great time she spoke again. 'I was actually jealous, that he was attracted to this human. After all, he had never been attracted to me. And if he wasn't attracted to me, well then…he should have found no other girl beautiful.'

Her voice was now deep and husky. My arms ached with the need to go to her and comfort her. With a monumental effort I did not move.

She went on speaking, staring straight ahead, away from me. 'But in the end, I always did love him as a brother. The older brother I had needed so much in my human life, yet never had.'

Her voice grew even softer and I could not be entirely sure of her words anymore. 'I should have welcomed Bella with open arms, like Alice. But my vanity,' she spit the word, 'kept me from it.'

'I could not accept my own brother's happiness. Even after Bella was changed I couldn't really like her, not deep down. I never even gave her a chance. As soon as I could I whisked you off to Europe with me so that I would not have to see the happiness that Bella brought to the whole family. Especially to Edward.'

Finally she turned to look at me, and my breath caught in my throat. Her eyes were empty, her mouth quivering. I lost all sense of myself and rushed to her, catching her up in my arms and crushing her to me.

She gasped jaggedly and hid her face in my shoulder. 'If we had been here…we could have evened the odds. Our brothers and sisters may still be here with us. But I…I took us away from our family because of my horrible vanity.'

I smoothed my hand over her hair and murmured. 'It's not your fault Rose. You couldn't have known.' I did not know what to say about her earlier admissions of jealousy. 'Everything is going to be ok.' I kissed the top of her head.

She pulled back slightly and looked up at me, the dead look still in her eyes. 'No Emmett. You're wrong. Things will never be ok again.' She backed away from me and fled to the only solace she had been able to find, underneath the Volvo.

I shook my head as I gazed down at my Rose. This was all beyond me. My father acted like a different man, a beaten man. My mother would break off mid sentence and tremble at some unseen attacker. And my Rose. She would not come out from her hiding place.

I wandered out of the garage, barely seeing the world around me. My feet led me to the start of one of our hunting trails and I followed it. If only there was something we could do. My fist struck out suddenly and landed square in the trunk of a young fir tree. It splintered and slowly fell to the side while I wandered on aimlessly.

There were only four of us. As much as I loved Esme and Rose, they were not the best fighters. I could never pit the four of us against the whole Volturi coven and their guard. Even if we could convince the Denali clan to help, we were still hopelessly outnumbered. Maybe I could find Jasper's friends Charlotte and Peter, and then maybe some of Carlisle's friends would help…

It would be a suicide mission. I kicked a sizeable rock out of my way. It soared ahead of me, out of sight. No doubt Aro would be constantly monitoring us through Alice, making sure that we weren't planning a rescue.

I grimaced. He was right to be afraid, damn it. I hoped he was afraid of us and made Alice check on us, and often. I slammed my fist into my other hand. Every plan I came up with ended with Alice foreseeing our coming and then we were all slaughtered by the guard.

I hadn't been bothering to pay attention to time as I walked, and the moon had just emerged from behind a cluster of clouds when I heard it.

Far off, a wolf had howled.

The howl was solitary at first, and then one by one his pack mates joined him.

We would be outnumbered and Alice would see us coming. My feet began to pick up speed before I consciously knew where I was headed. Outnumbered, and Alice. I broke into a dead run, flying over the Alaskan terrain. Outnumbered, and Alice. I was like a blur as I raced across the wilderness, heading south.

Outnumbered? No, we did not have to be. And Alice? She had a blind spot.

It's a good thing I was a vampire. I laughed loudly to myself, feeling happy for the first time in a month. I had a long way to go.

A full day later I finally slowed. I had made awesome time. The sun had just set in the west as I passed Seattle. There was no moon tonight and the night was incredibly dark. Though that made no difference to me or to the wolves I sought.

As I passed onto their lands I figured the best thing to do would be to stay here and let them find me. I smirked. I hoped they were still running patrols. Or had they grown lazy in their security after the big bad Cullens had left?

A rapidly approaching scent assaulted my senses. Damn, that burns. I grinned. That's one question answered.

I stood in a small, open clearing. I moved to the exact center of the clearing and raised my arms above my head in the air. I hoped those dogs remembered my scent.

Two wolves stepped into the clearing, materializing out of the dark. One of the wolves was sandy brown, the other was smaller and a light grey color.

I turned to face them, my hands still held above my head. The sandy wolf's nose was in the air, sniffing. Suddenly he lowered his nose and trotted toward me, tail wagging.

The grey wolf snarled and leapt at the brown one, shoving him aside with a shoulder.

I watched silently and for the first time I wondered what I was going to say. I hoped they would at least listen to me instead of trying to kill me.

Suddenly I smelled more different wolves as they all stepped out of the trees. They formed a neat circle around me and they slowly moved forward as a pack.

They cautiously moved forward until the brown and grey wolves were included in the circle.

I spun around slowly. I was enclosed in a tight circle by the wolves and they were all staring intently at me. A few growled.

I gestured in an exaggerated motion to my hands and then called out loudly. 'I just want to talk to you. I'm not here to hurt anyone.'

There was a loud snarl behind my back and I whirled to face it. The slight grey wolf was snarling at the boy standing next to her, who was hastily slipping on a pair of sweatpants.

I relaxed, but only a little. 'Hey Seth.' The boy walked forward. By the sounds coming from some of the wolves I knew that they did not approve.

Suddenly there was another human form approaching me behind the boy. I recognized the giant form of Sam.

I nodded politely at him as he and Seth stopped a short distance from me.

Sam put a hand out and pushed Seth a little behind him, then squared his shoulders and scowled at me. 'We would be well within our rights to take your life right now. We know you broke the treaty with Bella.'

A large, russet colored wolf took a few steps toward the center of the clearing. His eyes never left me.

'Well yes, that's true.' A loud howl escaped from the russet wolf, and a few others contributed growls and snarls of their own. 'Wait a minute.' For the first time I started to think this might not have been my brightest idea.

'Just hear me out. Please.' Sam narrowed his eyes and scrutinized me closely. After an excruciatingly long time he nodded curtly. 'You have five minutes.'

I swallowed hard. Why hadn't I thought of something to say on the long run here? I took a deep, steadying breath. I would just tell them the truth.

'You remember the Volturi? The vampire coven who watches over all the vampires to make sure that we do not reveal ourselves to humans?'

Sam nodded once. 'They attacked our family.' Seth swore and Sam threw him a stern look. The russet wolf growled low in his throat.

'I…I was not there. But they took Jasper, Alice, Edward and Bella.' At the mention of Bella's name the russet wolf took a few more quick steps forward and stopped next to Sam.

Seth stared at me, eyes wide. 'What do you mean they took them?'

'You all know that Alice and Edward have powers that are exceptionally unusual, even for our kind.' Sam nodded again. 'The Volturi knew of their powers and they asked them several times to join their guard. My brother and sister always refused so the Volturi got tired of asking and they came and took them by force.'

Sam placed a hand on the great shaggy russet wolf next to him, as if restraining him. He glanced back at me. 'You said the Volturi took four, yet only desired two of them.'

I closed my eyes briefly. My stomach tightened as I felt the familiar rush of rage that always filled me when I thought of this. 'Carlisle thinks they took the other two to hold as hostages, to keep control over Alice and Edward.'

The russet wolf threw back his head and howled. I smiled grimly. That must be Jacob. He couldn't still possibly be in love with Bella, could he? And it would be so like him to blame my brother for this.

Two other wolves broke the circle to come and stand next to Jacob. Sam tossed me a sympathetic look. 'I am sorry to hear about that, but I am not sure why you felt the need to come and tell us.'

I stepped forward and suddenly all the wolves were closer to me and snarling threateningly. I raised my hands once again. 'I need your help.'

The uproar was deafening. Wolves were snarling and scuffling all around me, but I was only focused on Sam. He laughed harshly.

'You want our help? After your family broke the treaty and bit a human?' He shook his head. 'You shouldn't have come here.'

He took a brazen step toward me. 'We are well within our rights to tear you apart right now. Why would we help you? You killed Bella. Did you not stop to think what that would do to all of her friends, to her family?'

I remembered that her father, Charlie, was good friends to the Quileutes. 'Bella is not dead, she…'

'She may as well be.' Sam glared. If looks could kill, this one would just about do it. 'What happens to you is of no concern to us. If you leave now and never return we will spare your life. Which is more than you deserve.'

I could see my window of opportunity closing. Damn it, why can't I rattle off one of those speeches that Carlisle and Edward are so good at? But I couldn't leave here empty handed. The wolves were our only chance.

I kept my hands raised in the air and took a couple tentative steps toward Sam and the small cluster of Seth and wolves around him. I ignored all the threatening noises, took one more step, and then dropped to my knees.

My voice strained and I stared hopelessly up at Sam. 'Please. Please help us. My family has been pulled apart. We can't do anything against the numbers of the Volturi by ourselves. And Alice…you know she can see the future. The Volturi would be waiting and ready for any attack we tried. But…she can't see you. If you were involved, we would have a chance.'

Every instinct I possessed screamed against my next actions, but I lowered my head, giving the wolves a clean shot at me. 'I'm begging you, please. I know you all loved Bella once. Help her now, damn it. Don't leave her in that place.' I shuddered and swallowed hard, my eyes squeezed shut. 'And you were right, we did violate the treaty. But if you would just help me get my family back, you can take my life for our breach. All I ask is that you let me participate in the fight to get them back, then I will willingly come to you and take our punishment for breaking the treaty.'

There was chaos again as Seth shouted and the wolves growled. I remained in my position on my knees, the back of my neck exposed. I gritted my teeth. I would do anything for my family. Even freely give up my life. I would do it with a smile on my face if we managed to free my brothers and sisters.

Gradually all was silent and Sam spoke again. 'Come then, bloodsucker. I will not make this decision lightly. We all have much to discuss.'


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Damn Bloodsuckers

**Leah's Point of View**

My fur bristled and stood on end as we escorted the big bloodsucker ahead of us. Sam had not wanted to take him to La Push (not that I would have let him take the vamp there anyway), so we were going to the bloodsuckers' abandoned lair.

Seth snorted and nudged my shoulder with his nose. I could hear his thoughts. _Oh calm down sis, you know the Cullens aren't the bad guys. _I sighed. _Grow up, Seth. A bloodsucker is a bloodsucker. They all smell the same to me._

I got several acknowledgments from the rest of the pack before Sam silenced us. _We'll talk it out once we get there._

I really hated the pack mind. Sam and Emily had been married a few months ago. And never would I have wanted to even hear about it, let alone see every horrifying detail. I shook my fur out and shuddered.

Probably the only good thing about being a werewolf was the speed. I knew no one other wolf could match me. That kind of made up for being the only girl werewolf in our history and having to share my thoughts and share everyone else's whether I wanted to or not. And I usually did not.

Oh, and killing bloodsuckers was pretty awesome too.

If only Sam would let us kill this one. I remembered him from our so called alliance with the vamps when we fought off the newborns. He was strong, cocky and stunk just like the rest of 'em.

I didn't care so much that the bloodsuckers had broken the treaty by biting Bella. The first time I had met her at Jacob's house she'd been ok, not that I really took the time to get to know her. But anyone who would actually hang out with vamps and want to become one was seriously unhinged.

_Don't talk about her like that. _I laughed. _Oh please Jacob, don't tell me you're still all teary eyed about her, are you? It's been a year. She picked her bloodsucker and death over you a long time ago. Get over it._

Jacob would have come after me if Sam hadn't ordered us both to calm down and stay away from each other.

I sighed. Stupid pack mind. It's like living with 10 brothers, except instead of only catching glimpses of their dumb behavior I was bombarded with every excruciatingly boring and gross detail. And then in return, not only do the brothers steal your diary and read it, they also know every thought you've ever had.

I would have stopped phasing a long time ago just to escape from all the crap, but Sam had insisted that we all wait a year or 2 to make sure that the Cullens or any other damn bloodsuckers didn't show up in search of them.

So I'm forced to wait through an entire nasty year and now this dumb vamp shows up again. They're kind of like undead roaches, hard to kill and they always come back even when they're not welcome.

We finally reached the bloodsuckers' extravagant house and let the big one lead us inside.

_Well, he did come alone. I think it's safe to enter the house. Colin, Brady, I want you two to run a patrol around the house. Let us know the instant you smell any other vampires. If you do, then head straight for La Push and wait for the rest of us there. You are not to engage any, that's an order. _

Colin and Brady took off on patrol, immediately obeying our fearless leader.

_Now, I think we can trust this one. Jared and I will phase back to our human forms. We will question the vampire and then we will phase back and all of us will talk over what we are going to do. While we are in our human forms I expect the rest of you to be on your guard and ready to help. But you are not to attack the vampire unless I give you the command. _

Sam phased and Jared quickly followed. They both pulled on a pair of pants before entering the house. I snorted. Like any of them had anything the rest of us hadn't seen a thousand times before. And there's no reason to be modest in front of a monster like this vampire.

I grinned. _Looks like Sam doesn't trust you to talk, Jacob. Too emotionally involved, huh?_

The russet wolf took a snap at me but I was too fast for him and dodged out of the way.

Laughing, I entered the house after the others, effectively ending our little fight. _Gotta keep a unified front for the bloodsucker Jacob, calm down. _

We had all gathered inside the cavernous living room. It looked like they had left behind most of their furniture, but it was all covered in sheets. I surveyed the house slowly. Hmm, whatever that sheet was covering could be a coffin.

While everyone settled in for our ridiculous discussion I amused myself by guessing what macabre object might lie under each sheet.

Right when I had almost convinced myself that another sheet-covered object had to be one of those medieval torture racks, Sam began to talk. I sighed. He'd probably be pretty mad if we didn't all pay attention, so I stopped my game and listened.

All of us wolves were in a loose circle around Sam, Jared and the bloodsucker. Sam and Jared took a seat on the sheet covered sofa but the vamp was still standing. Humph, he probably didn't even need to sit.

Whoa, that's weird, it looks like the vampire is actually _trembling_. I grinned smugly. Of course he was trembling, he probably thinks we're about to rip him to pieces.

My eyes began to glass over as he repeated the story he'd already told us in the clearing, though this time he told it in greater detail. The only time I perked up was when he talked about the powers of the Volturi. There was one who could take away all your senses? I frowned. I hoped that one's powers didn't work on us, the way that the little psychic one couldn't see us.

But I was also pretty sure that the one who made you feel pain couldn't really be all that bad. This bloodsucker was most likely exaggerating to make them look better for being so easily defeated.

I frowned when he ended his story about the fight and started to talk about how close his family was. He had closed his eyes for a long time and swallowed hard a few times before continuing. So what? Maybe all the vamps really did care for each other. That didn't mean that the world wasn't better off now that they had been separated and their coven numbers reduced a little.

Oh here it comes. Now he's playing the Bella card. Help us for her, help us for her father. I growled low in my throat. Bella's father was now my father. And as fathers went, he was ok. He left me well enough alone and didn't try to act like he was my real father at least.

But when it came down to it, I really didn't like this bloodsucker talking about him. Of course Charlie was upset that Bella had never come back to visit after she started college. Not that he would ever admit it, but I could tell.

There he goes again, trying to play the noble hero and offer himself to atone for the breaking of the treaty. I rolled my eyes. Like he could condition when we kill him, we could take him right now if we wanted and none of us would even get scratched.

Wow, he really is crazy. Now he's talking about how with our help we can bypass the psychic's sight and we can all go to Europe and storm the evil bloodsucker's castle.

That's just how I was planning on spending the weekend. Going on a suicide mission with vamps in some far off country to rescue other vamps who I don't even like. Awesome.

And once again on his knees. I guess any vampire brave enough to come in front of an entire pack of his mortal enemies and beg for our help on his knees has to have some redeeming qualities…I shook myself. Don't fall for his pity speech Leah.

All right, looks like its time to make our decision. Sam has trusted the vamp to stay in the house and we are all headed outside to discuss. We'll be able to tell pretty quickly if he left the house.

Sam and Jared phase back and we all sit in a loose circle, waiting for Sam to talk.

_You've all heard what he has to say. I will say what I think, and then if anyone else wants to talk he may. _I could hear the unspoken thoughts in Sam's head. That 'anyone else' meant Jacob. So Sam knew that Jacob would want to chase off after Bella to help, even though she had dumped him long ago and she was now a vampire.

_I believe that we should let the vampire go his way if he promises to never return. It is not on us to help them, even if we used to know Bella when she was a human. He is right about the mission, it will most likely be suicide. I cannot condone it. _

I could already hear Jacob's thoughts shouting back at Sam. Oh geez, here we go.

Sam sighed. _Jacob, go ahead. _

The shaggy russet wolf stepped to the middle of the circle and looked at all of us in turn. My look was much briefer than all the rest. My fur bristled.

_You all know about mine and Bella's…history. Even though she did not choose me, I can't just leave her in a place like that. If there is anything I can do to help, I am going to do it. _

Paul rolled his eyes. _Give it up man, she's not even Bella anymore, she's one of them. She's not the girl she used to be._

I nodded. Paul was actually making sense, for once.

Jacob growled softly. _I believed that myself, a long time ago. I've had a lot of time to think, and it…it doesn't really matter to me. Bella will still be Bella. And if she is in trouble I have to help her._

Quil stepped forward. _Jacob is right. Plus, we haven't seen any action in a long time. It'll be great to have something to fight again._

I shook my head in disgust as my own baby brother stepped to their side.

_Yeah. The Cullens really are the good guys. If they're in trouble I think we should help. Emmett is really torn up about this, they can't do it on their own. And…we all know how important family is so we should help them get theirs back._

I snarled. _Stop being a moron, Seth. How can you even talk about those dirty bloodsuckers as if they have families like we do? I think you may have forgotten that our dad was killed by vampires._

Seth frowned. _That's not true, Leah, and you know it._

I rolled my eyes. _If those vamps hadn't come back here after all those years, you and I would never have become werewolves in the first place. You know the shock of us phasing the first time is what gave dad his heart attack. _

_It's not fair to blame them. They had no idea that showing up here would turn us all into werewolves. And they never would have intentionally injured dad. _

I took a threatening step towards him. _Those are all just minor details. What it comes down to, point blank, is those vamps killed our dad. This is a great way to honor his memory Seth. Cozying up to the Cullens and acting like you're their trained dog._

Seth's eyes shot sparks and he took an answering step toward me. _That's enough._ Sam ordered. We both stopped in our tracks, unable to move.

Sam turned to face Jacob. When he spoke his sympathy for Jacob was evident. _You see how this is already twisting and splintering the pack? It's just best if we don't get involved. _

_If no one else has anything to say then we are going to close the matter. We will let the vampire go this time, but we will not help. _As Sam finished speaking I realized that his last words had been a command. He must not want Jacob running off by himself.

_No!_ Jacob snarled and shook violently. _This isn't right, Sam. You can order us as a pack, but what I do on my own is my business alone. _

_I'm sorry Jacob, I really am, but this decision is best for all of us. _

Suddenly I realized that Jacob had moved really close to Sam, and they were standing almost nose to nose, glaring into each other's eyes. Then Jacob spun on his hind paws and headed toward the house at a trot.

That's weird…something feels different. I gasped as the realization hit me. Jacob's thoughts were missing. All the other wolves comprehended a second after I had. Our heads whipped around to follow after Jacob.

I'd always known that Jacob was the beta, and that traditionally speaking he should have been the alpha because of who his ancestors were. But he'd given that up a long time ago…hadn't he?

I gasped again. It was like lights were winking out all around me. Quil and Embry, Jacob's adoring wingmen, had taken off after him.

I think the thought hit me a few seconds before it actually happened. I spun around and growled menacingly at Seth. _Don't you dare even think it…_

And then he was gone too.

So many emotions swirled through my head that it was impossible to sort them all out. Even with all the rest of the pack's thoughts still in my head, I felt…lonely.

I frowned and mentally shook myself. Get a grip, girl. Sure you always had fun provoking Jacob, but did I actually miss him? I glanced around me quickly. Paul, ugh, I could really do without him. I was sick of hearing Jared's thoughts about Kim. Embry wasn't so bad, he just always shared cute, sappy little pictures of Claire with us. Then there were all the other boring younger wolves, like Colin and Brady and the rest.

And Sam. What an absolute relief it would be to get away from his mind. It was hard enough to get over him and Emily without having their happiness thrown in my face every time I phased at the same time he did.

Abruptly my mind was made up. Before I could even start to puzzle over how to switch my allegiance it had already happened.

Seth's voice growled in my head. _What are you doing here, Leah? _

Jacob's thoughts interrupted him before he could get any farther. He now sounded calm and in control. _Glad to have you with us Leah. _There was some sort of strange emotion behind his words that I couldn't decipher.

But just then Sam turned to me, and I knew he had noticed the winking out of my own thoughts. We stood still, staring at each for a full minute. Finally Sam smiled a wolfish grin at me, showing all his teeth. I felt like grinning back at him.

I dipped my head in his direction then turned tail and headed to the house with my new pack.

Not that I really wanted to help any bloodsuckers, but if helping some meant killing others, then it couldn't be all bad.

I managed to reach the house at the same time that my new pack was entering it. The bloodsucker had been standing with his back turned to the door, looking out the giant wall window.

It was a moment before he turned. He looked very grave. 'Thank you for coming back.'

_I know that most of you won't feel comfortable doing this, but if we are going to be able to effectively communicate we are going to need to phase into human forms. We'll just have to trust them._

All of us agreed with varying degrees of reluctance and then I stepped around a corner to phase, quickly pulling my clothes on. The rest of the pack had done the same and we all emerged slowly in our weaker, more vulnerable human forms.

Jacob strode quickly up to the vamp so that he was standing right in front of him, eye to eye.

'Now listen to me. We have all agreed to help you. In order to talk and organize we are going to need to be in our human forms to talk with you and your family. All of my friends are following my lead.' He jabbed a finger into the vamp's face. 'I need your absolute guarantee of their safety when they're among your kind.'

The vampire nodded solemnly. 'None of you will be harmed from us. We may need to bring in other vampires outside of our family to help, but they will also swear not to harm you. You have all already risked so much, you don't need to be afraid of any danger on our part.'

Jacob stared, hard, into the vampire's weird golden eyes for a long time before nodding. He stepped back and flopped onto the sofa. 'So what's the plan?'

Seth sat on one side of Jacob and I sat on the other, Quil and Embry on a smaller sofa beside us. The vamp, or I suppose Emmett, as I would have to start calling him, stayed standing.

He began to speak in a soft, feverishly pitched voice. 'I think it would be best if you came back to our new home in Alaska with me to meet with the others. I do not want to remain here or bring in any new vampires.'

He furrowed his brow. 'I made a list of our friends who I think might help us. A few are already in Alaska so they will be easy to get. The rest are scattered. The way that I've always understood Alice's power is that now you're involved, our entire operation should be hidden from her. But just in case, it might be best if some of you came with me to get the other vampires, and if the rest went on to Alaska to meet with my family.'

Jacob stiffened beside me, I knew he didn't like the sound of that at all.

The bloodsu- Emmett, put up a hand to stop any arguments. 'I am going to call ahead to Carlisle. He will offer you the same guarantee of protection as I did. Surely if you trust any of us it would have to be Carlisle.'

Grudgingly I nodded. He was the doctor vamp who stitched up Jacob after I…messed up in the newborn fight. I had felt horrible that Jacob had been injured because of my screw up. Hopefully he knew that.

Jacob glanced around. 'Quil, Embry and Seth can go straight to Alaska.' He glanced quickly at me and then away. 'Leah and I can go with you to round up the others.' He shifted a bit closer to me and I frowned. Jacob could be so weird sometimes.

Emmett had pulled out a handful of credit cards that he had got from who knows where. Next he was on his phone, arranging for plane tickets and calling Carlisle.

The next 2 weeks were pretty overwhelming. First we went to Alabama and met up with 2 vampires, Charlotte and Peter. These ones had the terrible red eyes.

Jacob and I then had a long, private conversation that involved lots of yelling about what we were going to do when these non-vegetarian vampires tried to feed. In the end we finally had to settle on the fact that what we couldn't see wouldn't hurt us…not that it wouldn't hurt others.

These two acted like we were crazy when Emmett explained to them that he wanted to go up against the Volturi in their very own castle. It took a lot of explaining the values of having werewolves along until finally Peter stopped Emmett. He told him that when it really came down to it, Jasper was his friend, and if he was being mistreated then they would have to come with us.

I could admire that. I guess some of these vampires had human like qualities after all.

Hanging out with a bunch of vampires and Jacob turned out to be a lot more fun than I had originally thought it would be. Jacob seemed to completely trust Emmett, and I soon found myself almost liking him. He was really funny and after a few days with him I began to think that I could grow to trust him too.

Also, it was weird being with Jacob like this. Back in La Push we didn't get along very well. We were always ragging on each other about something or other, but now that we were alone and away from the pack it was just like something clicked.

The next part of our trip was the best. For the first time in my life I got to leave the country. We went to Ireland to find some of Carlisle's old friends. Ireland was so beautiful and…old. Jacob and I were able to convince Emmett to let us stop off and tour an old castle. It was incredible until Peter had to go and ruin the mood by pointing out that maybe we could pick up some pointers here to apply to our attack on the Volturi's castle.

I couldn't believe how easy it was to forget sometimes that we were about to storm an ancient vampire stronghold. It sounded like something out of a book.

We finally caught up with the 3 vampires who we were looking for. Once Siobhan, Liam and Maggie heard that Carlisle's family had been attacked they immediately agreed to help us. I was impressed that they didn't even have second thoughts after Emmett explained exactly how they were going to be helping.

Siobhan suggested that we stay a few more days and search around for a nomad vampire, Garrett. She explained that he had some sort of experience in rebellions and wars.

Much to my complete shock, I actually find myself liking the Irish vampires. It was really hard for me to comprehend that these vampires had actually lived through history and seen firsthand some of the things that I only read about in a textbook. I had to laugh at myself after that thought, how could I disbelieve anything anymore? I was, after all, a werewolf.

The worst part of the trip happened on the second day of our search for Garrett. We were in an ancient, dark wood. Liam said that Garrett had a little cottage deep inside the wood.

We were on the path toward it when all of a sudden I realized that bit by bit, all the animals had grown silent. And then it seemed like the wind completely stilled, though there was a new chill in the air. The vampires noticed it too, they were crouching defensively.

Jacob came over to me and stood very close by my side. 'I don't like this. Something's not right. Be ready to phase quick.' I nodded.

Drifting down the path from the way we had just come were two ancient, black cloaked figures. I knew they were vampires because I could smell them, but there was something off about the 2. They kind of had a scent of decay.

They drifted right up to our vampires and threw their hoods back. I shuddered. It looked like the slightest breeze could topple them. I whispered to Jacob. 'They must be ancient.'

At the sound of my voice both of their heads whipped around to us. I had to frown a bit as Jacob pushed me behind him. Who did he think I was that I needed his protection?

1 of the vampires clapped and made a sound that I can only describe as cackling. And now that I heard it, I realized I had never actually heard anyone cackle before.

'Most excellent. Werewolves, simply delicious.'

The other one grinned. 'We had heard that you were moving against the Volturi, but we had never imagined that you would be so inventive.'

The one who had spoken first nudged the other. 'I told you they had a chance.'

The second nodded sagely.

Emmett scowled. 'How were you able to hear about us?'

The first aged vampire waved a papery hand in dismissal. 'Don't worry about that, we have our ways. The Volturi don't know, and it's not likely that they will catch wind of this.'

Liam took Emmett by the elbow. 'Then you are welcome, Stefan and Vladimir.'

I almost choked. Vlad? As in Vlad, the impaler? Dracula? He even had a Dracula accent, come to think of it. No freakin way.

Dracula spoke again. 'On our way to meet you, we thought of the most wonderful of plans.'

The good vampires all looked a little wary.

'You'll never be able to get inside the Volturi city, let alone the castle, without them discovering you. So we thought we would help you with that.'

Emmett nodded slowly. 'We're listening.'

'We are going to create, oh what would you call it?'

The other rolled his eyes. 'A diversion.'

The first one clapped his hand in delight. 'Ah yes, we are going to create a diversion outside the city walls so that you can all slip safely, and unnoticed, inside.'

Our little vampire group all waited expectantly to hear the plan.

Dracula frowned. 'Well, we aren't going to tell you. That would completely ruin the surprise.'

The other nodded. 'It would simply take all the fun out of it.'

'But trust us, we want to see the Volturi fall just as much as you do, possibly even more.'

'Yes, most decidedly more.' Emphatic head nod from Dracula 2.

Dracula 1 held out his hand with a tiny slip of paper in it.

Emmett cautiously took the paper and looked it over. 'A phone number?'

Dracula 1, or was it Dracula 2? I couldn't really tell them apart, nodded. 'When you figure out the particulars, you know, the time and such, just give us a ring and let us know. I daresay we will have our little diversion all planned out by then.'

Siobhan forced a smile onto her face. 'That's very kind of you to help us…'

One of the Dracula's cut her off. 'No need to thank us, really, this will be too much fun. Now we really do need to be going. Much to do.'

They turned as one and floated off. One looked over his shoulder. 'Really, nothing for you to worry about, our diversion will be quite adequate. Shouldn't wonder if we empty the city of the entire guard.' They both cackled maliciously as they drifted off.

We watched as they vanished around a bend. I turned to Jacob. 'Well, I think I've seen a lot of weird things in my life, but that just topped the list.' He nodded slowly. 'Somehow, I completely believe them, that their diversion will clear the city. But the thought of it scares me.' I agreed and Liam ushered us all on.

Within a few hours we located our revolutionary vampire, Garrett, and he quickly agreed to join our fight.

All the vampires agreed that we should stop our hunt here and head back to Alaska. They didn't want to involve any more vampires because they weren't sure if they could trust any others to go along with the ridiculous plan.

I knew Emmett was relieved as it was. He had been terrified that some of his choices would refuse us. And then what was to stop them from tipping off the Volturi?

Besides, Emmett had been in touch with Carlisle and we knew that the vampires who they called the Denali coven had agreed to help. And that was how many more? 5, which brought our grand total to 13 vampires and 5 werewolves. Not bad if you were filming a horror movie.

Though I knew we were still drastically outnumbered. Emmett had said the Volturi kept anywhere from 25-40 guard members at a time with them. I hoped it was on the 25 member side.

My earlier calculations also didn't count the Draculas. If they were to be counted on, which our vamps felt that they could, then the guard number inside the castle would be drastically reduced.

We headed back to Alaska to come up with a battle plan. It was a pretty unnerving plane ride back to the states. I felt horrible for all the unsuspecting people on the plane with us. If they had only known that 2 werewolves, a vegetarian vampire, and 6 non-veggie vamps were on the plane with them they would have probably run screaming right out the emergency exit and plunged several thousand feet to the Atlantic Ocean.


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry its been such a long time between updates. I discovered the Outlander book series and I haven't been able to put them down. But I promise, things are quickly coming to a head and we are getting very close to the conclusion.

Chapter 11: The Calm before the Storm

**Bella's Point of View**

'Can I see him? For even a minute, please?' I gazed imploringly at Aro, my lower lip was even trembling.

He shook his head slowly. 'No, my dear, I don't think that would be best at all.'

I tried to keep the scowl off my face. It would not be helpful to lose my temper right now.

I took a deep, steadying breath and tried again. 'Aro…I know you want me and Alice to feel comfortable and welcome here. But we haven't seen Jasper or Edward since we arrived.' I deftly lied about having seen Edward since our arrival, Aro had still not found out.

'If I could just see him, if I could only know that he was ok I would feel much better.'

Aro frowned. 'No, Bella, I really do think everyone is better off this way. If I let you see him once you would only want to see him again and more often. No, I believe it is time for you to move on.'

'We have many suitable suitors for you among the guard, I am sure that fact cannot have escaped your attention. You have grown into a beautiful, engaging woman and you could probably take your pick. At least it would take your mind off that boy.'

He waved his hand dismissively. 'I have other matters to attend to. Please don't bother me with this again.'

He drifted away with his entourage and I remained standing, my head drooping. I wished I could rip him to shreds. I hated him. He was a self righteous old arrogant fool. My hands clenched into fists and my body shook. I had never felt hate such as this before.

After some time I moved away and grabbed a cloak before exiting the castle. I frowned as I noticed a dark grey shape slide out of the door behind me. It was so frustrating to be constantly watched, especially at the moment when I had no plans to escape. I only wanted to be alone with my thoughts.

I made my way down to the enormous courtyard fountain. It was dark outside and few people moved in the streets. I sat on the edge of the fountain and let my hood fall back. I absentmindedly trailed my fingers through the water.

This was the same fountain that I had splashed headfirst into to save Edward from the Volturi. It seemed like such a long time ago.

I vaguely remembered that the water had been freezing. It should probably have felt cold at this time of the year, but to me the temperature was pleasant enough.

I finally found the word I'd been searching for all night. Stalemate, that's where I was at in life. Jasper and Edward were beyond my reach and Alice was kept as Aro's constant companion. Even if I could get Alice alone, anything I said to her would be relayed right back to Aro when he next touched her.

And I dare not leave the city and strike off on my own. I knew know that Aro would have no hesitations about killing Edward if I were gone. And from what little I had seen of Edward made me believe that he would not even fight back.

Oh Edward, what have they done to you? Whenever I closed my eyes I plainly saw his dead, lifeless eyes. If only I could go to him, I knew I could wake him. I clenched my fist and punched the water.

The only result was a splash that drenched my cloak.

There was a light chuckle from behind me. I didn't need to turn, I had sensed the vampire who had followed me from the castle. 'I don't really see anything funny, Corin.'

He approached softly and sat on the fountain ledge a good distance away from me.

'I've never seen anyone win a battle against water, Bella, there doesn't seem much sense in trying.'

I closed my eyes tight and counted to ten slowly. 'Corin, I realize that it was just your misfortune to have been assigned to guard me at this time, but do you have to make it my misfortune as well by forcing conversation?'

Hearing no reply, I slowly opened my eyes and saw that his indefatigable grin was still in place. 'My apologies, you looked like someone who could use a little company. My mistake.'

He inclined his head toward me but made no move to leave. After a few moments of scowling I began to feel ashamed. Corin was really not that bad, not as the rest of the Volturi went, anyway. It could have been much worse. It could have been Felix's turn. I shuddered. His advances were getting bolder and I could tell his patience was growing thin.

Something was going to have to break, and I knew it was not going to be me.

But I didn't want to think about that until I had to. 'Why are you here?'

He raised a brown eyebrow. 'Oh I thought it might be nice to come out and have a seat with you on the fountain, do a little stargazing instead of skulking in the shadows.'

'No, I meant why are you with the Volturi? You don't seem…well you don't seem like them exactly.'

The smile slowly faded from his face as he gazed up at the stars. I could tell he was taking his time in thinking of a response. I went back to trailing my fingers in the fountain, watching as the tiny ripples distorted the reflection of the stars in the water.

'I've been a part of this world for a very long time.' He was silent for some time after his opening statement. I let him take his time, after all, I was not going anywhere, I had all the time in the world.

'There are not too many opportunities for our kind. I lived for a long time as a nomad, roaming through Western Europe and Russia for longer than I cared to keep track of. But it gets lonely after a while, being on your own for so long.' He was silent for another long moment, eyes trained on the stars above. 'Animals shun our company and not many humans are willing to have a conversation with a vampire, after all.'

I snorted involuntarily. _I_ had certainly been willing to have many, many conversations with a vampire. But I had been fairly sure at the time that he would not eat me. I did not think that any of Corin's conversation partners would have felt the same.

He ignored my snort and continued to gaze up at the stars. 'I cannot really tell you in which year I joined the Volturi, for time had lost any pretense of meaning to me. But, as I said, I grew tired of living on my own and so I sought out others. I soon heard of the Volturi and that they were always willing to take on new members of the guard. Especially if those new recruits had a useful talent, which I did. It was Caius who first spoke with me. He decided at once that I would be a very useful addition. So there you are.'

His grin hadn't returned during his short story, and I wasn't entirely sure he even realized I was still listening. He was very preoccupied with the stars. 'Loneliness, that is why I am here.'

I shook my head. 'The Volturi isn't the only coven out there. Carlisle is always willing to welcome more to the family.'

He smiled ruefully down at me. 'It's too late for me, I doubt I could ever be converted to the vegetarian lifestyle.'

I wanted to argue with him and convince him that if he was lonely, the Volturi were not the only answer, but he threw me completely off guard with his next statement.

'I could send him a message for you, you know. I am a loyal member of the Volturi guard, but I see the pain that being separated from him is causing you. I could easily gain access to him, if that would make a difference to you.'

I don't know how long I sat with my mouth gaping open. I spoke before I had even begun to think through what he was offering me. 'If I could only let him know that I still loved him, that would make all the difference in the world. Edward…well, he will blame himself for what's happened and I just can't stand that.'

I hesitated. 'But you wouldn't be in any trouble for passing a message along, would you?'

His easy smile returned as he deftly dodged the true meaning behind my words. 'It would be no trouble at all, Bella.'

He stood in one fluid motion and reached his hand out to me. 'If you would accompany me back to the castle my babysitting duty will be complete and I can go see him for you.'

I immediately jumped to my feet and took his hand. I pulled him along after me, walking as fast as I dared through the dark city streets.

Once we reached the main hall of the castle I stopped abruptly and turned to face Corin, suspicion evident on my face. 'Wait. Why are you doing this for me?'

His eyes flickered away from me and he studied a light fixture on the wall intently. And then he spoke, so softly that I almost didn't catch his words. 'Because I would see you happy.'

He broke away from me and headed off in the opposite direction. I narrowed my eyes and watched him until he disappeared into darkness.

Because he would see me happy? Had I completely missed something? I could admit to myself that we had formed a sort of tenuous friendship, but why would he care for me so much as to risk himself by carrying messages between two people who were prisoners in everything but name.

I shook my head, my hair flipping from side to side. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth I guess.

I groaned and rolled my eyes and started to hurry back to my room. There was a familiar scent coming toward me and I was in no mood to deal with Felix right now. I would wait in my room for Corin.

**Edward's Point of View**

My head snapped up as I heard a rapidly approaching set of footsteps. I raised an eyebrow, here was a scent that I did not recognize at all. I glanced quickly over at Jasper and he was looking back at me. _Probably just some new guy, come to pick on good ole Scars and pretty boy._

I sighed. 'Those nicknames are getting on my nerves Jasper, I don't need to hear them coming from you as well.'

He shrugged. 'If they're to be our new names for a long time we may as well get used to them.'

The lamb bleated as the door began to swing open and buried his head behind my back. The little guy was terrified of Jasper, he refused to go near him, and now it looked like he was scared of the new guard as well. I really had lost my touch.

I was most likely going to get hell from the guards for keeping a pet. I squared my shoulders as a lithe figure slipped into the door and then shut it behind him.

He looked between us slowly.

'Trying to figure out which one of us to have a go at, are you?' Jasper spoke casually. 'Most of the guard doesn't have as much trouble, they just pick whoever's nearest.'

He grinned. 'I'm afraid you completely misinterpret the reason for my visit.'

Jasper laughed humorlessly. 'Luck of the Irish, is it?'

Suddenly I shot to my feet and our visitor jumped backwards in a crouch. 'Bella sent you?!'

He relaxed and his grin widened. 'Ah, you must be Edward, then.'

His mind suddenly turned agonizingly hard to read, I didn't know if he was doing it himself or if I was just too agitated to be able to hear his thoughts clearly.

_I say we take him now, he was foolish enough to come alone._ I frowned toward Jasper. 'I want to hear what he has to say.'

Our visitor laughed. 'This is disconcerting. I've heard other guards speak of your talent but it's another thing entirely to witness it first hand.'

I growled low in my throat. 'Just tell me what you came here to say.'

He shrugged and his infuriating grin grew somehow wider. 'I still love you.' He winked mischievously. 'Rather, that's what she said.'

I dropped to my knees. I hadn't thought that word from Bella would affect me this deeply, but it did. It felt like my entire world had suddenly contracted around those four little words that Bella had told this man to tell me.

Jasper sighed. _Get a grip, man. You always knew that anyway._

'It's not the same Jasper. It's not the same as hearing it.'

_Well this guy isn't exactly Bella herself…_

'It's good enough for me.'

'So sorry to interrupt.' Bella's messenger had clasped his hands behind his back and was squinting down at my side. 'I've heard of your families' odd eating habits before, so if you don't mind my asking, did you leave that poor lamb as a snack? You see, I'm rather fond of animals, and I would hate to see the little guy slaughtered in front of me.'

You've got to be kidding. A member of the Volturi guard who had a fondness for animals and didn't want to see one killed in front of him? After all the Volturi did? I couldn't believe it.

'Don't worry.' Jasper shook his hair out of his eyes. 'That's Eddie Jr. and he is strictly off limits for eating. And don't I know it.'

I shot Jasper a vicious look and whirled to face the guard again. 'How is Bella? Is she being mistreated?'

He shrugged. 'She is as well as she can be, all things considered. She's heartbroken, though. All torn up that your in this position. She thinks you blame yourself and it's tearing her apart.'

Jasper snorted. 'Wonder where she'd get an idea like that.'

I shot him another murderous look. 'Look, you are obviously a friend of Bella's if she trusted you to carry this message to me. Are you willing to carry one back, from me?'

He nodded slowly. 'I will.'

I took a deep breath. 'Tell her to run away.'

Jasper hissed. _You can't tell a Volturi guard to tell her that, why would he listen to you, and even if he did, why would he disregard his loyalty to Aro and Caius? This has to be some sort of cruel trick._

I rushed on, ignoring Jasper. 'If she and Alice can get away from here, it would give Jasper and I a chance. We can't try to escape ourselves for fear of their safety. I know Aro is just holding us here to keep them from fleeing. Please, convince Bella that we will manage on our own if they can only get away. Lie to her if you have to, tell her that you are helping us to escape so that she'll go.'

For once I could hear that Jasper agreed wholeheartedly with me.

'Look, you know I can hear people's thoughts. And I can hear yours right now. You care for Bella a great deal. I think even more than you realize.' The corner of my mouth twisted upward. 'She has that effect on a lot of people.'

The guard's grin was slowly turning into a troubled frown.

'I know how much I'm asking from you, but please, for her sake you have to help her.'

'You would never be able to escape.' He shook his head slowly, as if clearing it. 'Aro keeps Alice with him constantly, if she was gone for more than half an hour he would miss her. And even if they did manage to escape, he would know immediately if you two tried anything. No, he would destroy you either way, there is no way around it.'

Jasper spoke grimly. 'Maybe we don't mean for there to be a way around it. Edward is right, if you could only convince the girls that there was a chance we could escape and follow them, I think they would go. I would see Alice freed from Aro's grip, even if that meant my death.'

I nodded, agreeing with my brother. 'Please, you know Aro is wrong to keep us like this. You must realize that he has strayed from the Volturi's way. It's not the same anymore.'

The fair haired Irish vampire grimaced. 'You are right, it hasn't been the same for a long while.' Then he stood silently, brows furrowed as he sunk deep into thought.

Jasper and I remained silent, though I could hear my brother encouraging the guard in his mind.

After a very long time his smile returned, though it did not reach his eyes. 'Yes, I will help.'

We quickly worked out a few details, and then the guard turned to go.

'Wait! We don't even know your name.'

He turned and grinned. 'Wondered when we'd get around to proper introductions, my name's Corin.'

'Then I thank you, Corin, for everything. But can I ask just one more favor?'

His eyes narrowed though his grin never wavered.

I picked up the small lamb and pushed it into his arms before he could protest. The poor lamb was too much in shock to struggle.

'Please, could you take him and give him to some small girl in the village or something? Sounds like the new few hours are going to be a bit rough, and I'd rather he were safely away.'

Corin laughed. 'If I can do nothing else for you, I can do this one thing.' He turned quickly and was gone, the door slid shut behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Decisions

**Aro's Point of View**

How tedious it all was. And how completely unnecessary. If this was how my guard members were going to behave, I would need to put on a very good demonstration indeed.

My little Alice stood demurely in front of me. She had, after all, already seen how all of this was going to end. At least she found fighting at this point to be futile.

I frowned disapprovingly at the struggling, wild eyed vampire in front of me. 'Oh Bella dear, do calm down. I have no plans to harm your Edward. I am just so happy to have you all back with me.'

Ah, it finally seemed as though she was losing some of that newborn strength, Felix was now able to handle her on his own.

'Its so unfortunate you three decided to try to leave me. It really does cause me pain. And, of course, it must be even more unfortunate for all of you that you were caught.'

And then most disappointing of all was the third captive. I waved my hand at Demetri. 'Drop him.'

Demetri let the limp bundle in his arms fall to the ground. 'Release him, Alec.'

Alec frowned but immediately did as I commanded. I smiled, the corners of my mouth turning up slowly. There was something to be said for obedience of that sort. I was afraid my new acquisitions would never learn it.

Corin gasped as if emerging from deep underwater and blinked up at me. I was happy to see that his eyes contained more than a mere hint of fear.

I offered my hand to him. He paused for a moment, and stared up at me. I frowned. 'After all these countless centuries of loyalty Corin. You break my heart. Can't you even take my hand anymore?'

His eyes still looked wary, but he got on his knees before me and took my hand in his. I nodded. 'That's better. Ah. I see now.'

The ungrateful wretch had betrayed me, after all I had done for him. But there would be time for that later.

'You allowed yourself to be swayed by a pretty face. You're not the first to suffer that weakness, nor will you be the last. I see. So you thought you could escape with Bella and that we would take care of Edward for you. Then you could have the girl all to yourself. My misguided son, to have let her deceive you so. She never would have been with you.'

The figure at my feet wrenched his hand back and stared at me as if he'd just been slapped. 'That's not it at all! I never meant to be with her like that! You're twisting my thoughts!'

I sadly shook my head. 'You poor man. You don't need to lie to me, I see your true intentions.'

He twisted his head to look at Bella, who had stopped struggling to listen. 'Bella, those were never my intentions at all, he is twisting everything! I always meant for you to find a way to be with him, in the end. You have to believe me!'

Her eyes were wide but she nodded. 'I do believe you Corin.'

I clasped his forearm. 'What reason would I have for twisting your true thoughts? I am sorry to say that you are in enough trouble, even putting aside your reasons for running away with Bella.'

He pulled roughly out of my grasp and stared at me, his eyes blazing into mine.

I surveyed the turret room, looking at each of my guard in turn. It was a good thing I'd only invited my most loyal guard to this room. I was going to have to bring this to a head, and quickly, before anyone else got any delusions of heroic grandeur.

'You wound me, my boy, you really do. After betraying me and all the trust I put into you over all those long centuries, you allow yourself to be so easily swayed. Have you no love for me at all?'

His eyes lowered slowly. 'Things are different around here Aro, you no longer care for the people that you have sworn to protect. You care more for your power.'

The venom fairly spat from my voice. 'So that is it? Those are your true feelings for one such as I, who have sacrificed so many long years to keep our world a secret.'

I could hear him swallow thickly. 'You twist every word I say. I know what fate is to befall me. Be on with it, and quick.'

Now I let sorrow drip from my every word. 'It suffers me greatly, but I must agree with you. We all know the punishment for treason. And it's such a great shame.'

I addressed the whole room, my arms outstretched. 'You all know that you are here freely, of your own will. If you do not agree with our policies, then you are welcome to make your own way. All I ask of you is loyalty while you are with me, for we have such an important, crucial job.'

I had to hold back the smile that I felt creeping up on me. I could sense from the mood of the room that all of my guard backed me. But, I was still going to have to give them a good demonstration to deter any future disloyalty.

I turned my face into a mask of sorrow. 'I am afraid that I must sentence you to death, Corin.'

'No!' Bella screamed and lunged forward, though Felix kept his grip. 'You can't do this! You say that we are all here of our own free will, but there is proof right in front of you that Aro lies! Alice and I never wanted to join the Volturi but here we are! And he will never let us leave!'

I rolled my eyes. Bella was so very tiresome. I beckoned to Felix. He drug Bella along with him. I leaned in and spoke very close to his ear; I knew that only he and Bella could hear what I said. 'Felix, I think it is time our dear Bella learned the meaning of obedience.' She stopped struggling and listened in horror. 'Would you mind so much teaching her?'

He grinned and looked Bella over, and answered me in a deep, husky voice. 'No Aro, I wouldn't mind. It would be no trouble at all.' He closed his eyes and brought a handful of Bella's hair up to his nose and inhaled deeply.

Bella's eyes were wide with fear. Her mouth opened soundlessly as her lips formed the word no. Felix turned and pushed Bella in front of him, headed out of the room.

It was regrettable. But if the girl could not learn to obey me, then she would just have to start learning how to obey others first. She really gave me no choice in the matter.

I shifted my gaze back to the Irishman who still knelt on the floor in front of me. His eyes were following Bella and Felix from the room. I could practically feel the despair rolling in waves off of him.

At a slight nod from me, Demetri and Santiago came forward to each take an arm of Corin's.

They pulled him upright and Demetri grabbed his hair, forcing his face up to look at me.

I stepped forward and took his chin in my hand, searching deep within his eyes. At long last I let him go and stepped back to address all of my guard.

'As I said before, it is with great regret that I sentence Corin to death. But such is the price of disloyalty.'

A few members of the guard took tentative steps toward Corin, their eyes always on me. I grinned when I recognized the hunger in theirs.

I spoke in a soft, loving tone. 'Do you have anything to say, Corin? Will you atone for your actions, now at the end?'

How ironic this man's life had been. To be executed twice in one's lifetime was no small feat. Though I was quite sure the irony was not lost on him.

He met my eyes with his, one last time. He spoke in a soft, calm voice. 'I have nothing to atone for. I would ask one small favor of you, for all the centuries of loyal service that I have given.'

I nodded encouragingly. 'Do go on, what is it you would have of me for so many years of faithful service?'

A faint shadow of his former grin slipped back over his face. 'I would have my last view be of the open night sky, of the stars.'

The corners of my mouth slowly fell, though I was grinning on the inside. 'I am sorry, my dear boy, but I just can't grant your request. I don't really see what difference it could possibly make.'

All life bled from his face and he lowered his eyes. 'Then do it and be done with it all.'

Just as I was about to give the order to my guard to tear him apart, I felt a small hand grip my arm.

I gasped.

'They wouldn't dare.'

Caius was at my side in an instant. He had immediately recognized the seriousness of my shocked tone.

I took a moment to gain control over myself, then nodded down at little Alice. 'Thank you, my dear, for the warning.'

'Hold him.' I indicated my heard toward Corin and then motioned for Caius to move aside after me.

'Sweet Alice has just shared the most curious vision with me. I am not sure how they've kept it secret from us for as long as they have, but our old friends Stefan and Vladimir have planned quite the surprise.' Caius raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. 'It seems they are planning on attacking our city at dawn…with an army of newborns.'

Caius' eyes gleamed and he rubbed his hands together. 'Not very original, but I'll take any chance to finish them off that they provide us.'

I nodded. 'Too bad of the timing as dawn is only a short while off, I had wished to make a proper display of our turncoat here. Though given this news, that will have to wait.'

Caius nodded, in complete agreement with me. 'We can barely spare any of the guard to watch over him. We are going to need everyone to keep the newborns from disturbing the city or exposing themselves.'

I frowned. He was right, of course. 'Oh, I don't know, throw him in with Edward and Jasper. We can spare a few of the guard to stand watch over them. And after we dispose of this pitiful newborn army, then we will deal with them. All of them, I think. They are quickly outlasting their usefulness to me.'

Caius nodded again and I smiled. He was so much more agreeable when my decisions led to some sort of violent end. I glanced to my side quickly. Marcus had joined us at some point in our conversation, though I hadn't noticed him approach.

It was of no consequence, Marcus followed along with everything we decided.

'I do hope that Stefan and Vladimir don't change their minds about leading the newborn army themselves.' Caius greedily smacked his lips. 'That's tempting enough to make me want to go down there myself and see them finally finished off.'

'Perhaps we should. But like I said earlier, dawn is not far off, and I would prefer to meet the newborn army before they reach the city. We must leave at once. I will see our prisoners safely put away. Prepare the guard for battle.'


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Dawn Breaks

**Edward's Point of View**

I couldn't stop pacing. It was so damn _frustrating_, not knowing what was going on.

'Something went wrong Jasper.' I twisted my fingers in my hair and pulled. 'Aro should have sent someone for us by now. They have to know they're gone.'

Jasper merely shrugged. 'Not much good you can do by pacing. All we can do is wait.'

'Its like Aro ordered all the guard to stay far away from us, I can't even catch a whisper from anyone's mind.'

I placed both of my palms against the door and braced myself against it. It could never hold me. I wished I could just break the door into splinters and get out of here.

Calm down Edward, you have to stay in here to make sure Bella has a chance to get away. That's all that matters now.

I took several deep breaths. Oh it was all useless! I'll never be able to calm down.

I shot a glare at Jasper. How could he be so calm?? My fingers were gouging great clefts in the massive wooden door. I didn't even care enough to stop myself. One way or another, our stay here was going to soon end.

Wait a minute. I was beginning to hear…

'Jasper! Someone's coming.' I hissed.

He was on his feet and at my right side before I could turn, his hand on my shoulder.

_Be very still Edward. When they pause to unlock the door, push the door with me outward. That should give us a few seconds of surprise. After that…fight well my brother. I hope to see you on the other side. _

He held his hand out to me and I clasped it, then pulled him in and hugged him tight.

I briefly wondered which other side he was referring to but quickly put it out of my mind.

Suddenly my whole world came crashing to a halt. The guards had moved within range and I could hear their thoughts.

'They caught them Jasper, they didn't make it.' My eyes met his, and I saw the same death in his that was rapidly filling mine.

Jasper shook his head, his golden hair flying. He set his mouth in a tight line. _Then we'll take out as many of the bastards as we can._

I nodded. I had to hold back my agony. In just a few short minutes it would all be over, all the endless pain. But right now I had to focus, I had to fight.

We both waited in absolute silence, listening to the guards' footsteps come closer. There were three of them.

The footsteps stopped right on the other side of the door. Jasper tipped his head toward me and we both leapt at the door and ripped it from its hinges. Using it as a battering ram, we collided with the three hard, heavy objects in front of us.

They were completely unprepared for the attack and fell to the ground under the door.

Jasper yanked the door away and was on the guards in an instant. I was about to follow him when I pulled up in shock. I reached down and pulled Corin out from under the door. 'What are you doing-?'

Corin abruptly cut me off. 'We have no time Edward.' He quickly looked over my shoulder at Jasper, who was just finishing off the second of the two guards. Wow, that was some pretty nice work. I smirked, and then quickly came back to the conversation at hand. 'We can't stop to look for fire to burn them Jasper, we have to keep moving. Aro and Caius and most of the guard are out of the city stopping some sort of newborn invasion.'

'Newborn invasion!? What in hell is going on?' Corin completely ignored me.

'Aro took Alice with him. Now is the time Jasper, they will be distracted.'

Jasper was on his fight in an instant, eyes flashing dangerously. 'Can you show me?'

Corin nodded. 'I'll take you myself.'

Finally he turned back to face me. 'Edward, Felix has taken Bella-'

He didn't need to say another word. I heard the rest of it in his mind and I saw the path that I would need to take to reach the hall of the guard's quarters.

I was already sprinting down the hall as Corin and Jasper fled to save Alice.

I was running as I'd never run in my life. Every step that I took, all of my rage and frustration and wrath kept building. No one was ever going to separate Bella and I again.

If that bastard Felix put one hand on her…well no, he was dead either way.

I was so damn tired of vampires threatening Bella, threatening my own happiness. It wasn't my fault, it had never been my fault. But it was time for me to step up. No longer would I tolerate the Volturi and their meddling in my families' lives. It ends now.

Corin had shown me an elevator that would take me straight to the guard's quarter's hall. I jabbed impatiently at the button and growled low in my throat. What the hell was I waiting for?

I pried my fingers into the jam of the elevator doorway and shoved. The doors screeched apart and fell in ruin on the floor. I looked into the shaft. Damn, the elevator was on its way down. But I didn't have time to wait.

I leaned into the shaft and leapt straight up. I crashed through the floor of the elevator. A soft, classical jazz song was playing. I took a millisecond to roll my eyes. No wonder people nowadays don't appreciate jazz if this crap is all they're exposed to. I had paused only long enough to crouch on the ruined edge and gain momentum for my next leap up, then I was through the roof of the elevator.

I grabbed the cable and pulled myself hand over hand until I reached my desired floor.

I paused for the briefest of moments. I could hear Felix's mind loud and clear.

I bit my lip harshly and howled.

Felix must have heard me. I heard the question in his mind and then pain blossomed. Good girl. Bella must have seen his distraction and given him a good one.

I launched myself at the doors to the elevator and burst through them and they fell, wasted, down the elevator shaft to meet the elevator itself with a resounding crash.

I came out in the middle of the laughingly opulent hall. I stood tall and straight.

'Felix! Come out here and face me damn you!'

My hands were clenched into such tight fists at my sides that I thought my own hands would shatter.

And there he was. He emerged from the doorway to his room, a malicious smile on his face.

'Oh hey Edward. Come to join in the fun? I'm not really big on sharing, but I'll let you watch if you say please.' He winked.

I threw my head back and roared.

'Now there's no need to act like that pretty boy.' His upper lip curled into a harsh snarl. 'If you want a fight, I can always finish with your little girl after I'm finished with you.'

Then he accepted my challenge with a harsh growl of his own and jumped at me.

I stood my ground, unmoving, until he was only a bare few inches in front of me and then I moved in the slightest of ways.

As our bodies met there was a sound like thunder. He was bigger than me. He was stronger than me. He had centuries more fighting experience than me.

I snapped him in half like a twig. I threw both pieces of him onto the floor, utterly disgusted.

Bella slipped from the room with a lighter, I stepped back graciously and gestured to the pieces on the floor. 'Ladies' choice.'

She flicked the lighter on with a quick movement of her thumb, then placed her foot squarely in Felix's face and threw the lighter down. His body quickly caught fire and the hall filled with the sickeningly sweet scent of roasted vampire.

We stood side by side, silent and motionless for a few minutes as we watched him burn.

I risked a glance out of the corner of my eye at Bella. 'God, you're gorgeous.'

She lifted one corner of her mouth in an excellent imitation of my half smile that she loved.

'Just for the ease of your mind, he didn't touch me.'

I tilted my head toward her in a nod. 'I never imagined for a heartbeat that you'd let him.'

Her mouth quivered and she lost her half smile. 'It was a near thing… it's good that I have you. My guardian angel.'

And in that moment I forgot everything except my Bella. I forgot where we were, I forgot that there was a battle waging outside, and I even forgot myself.

I placed my hands on Bella's shoulders and backed her against the wall. I bent my head and tenderly kissed her neck, trailing my lips up her neck until I reached her ear.

I whispered, my lips brushing against her ear, my voice ragged and low. 'I need you Bella, I need to claim you and know that your mine and that you'll always be mine.'

She gasped and tilted her head back, exposing her throat to me. I swooped in and placed my lips against the tender flesh. I let the tip of my tongue brush against her creamy skin.

Bella moaned and pushed her hips toward mine. 'Oh Edward, take me.'

I obeyed and took her roughly against the wall. It wasn't love making, rather it was an animalistic need that roared through both of us, demanding to be satisfied. Who was I to deny the beast?

There was a large, picturesque window across the hall. Unheeded by either of us, the sun began to rise.

* * *

**Emmett's Point of View**

I glared impatiently at the horizon. Rose came up beside me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. 'You can do many things Emmett, but you can't make the sun rise any faster.'

A brief smile broke out over my face and I grabbed Rose up in my arms and whirled her around. 'I love you so much Rose!'

There was a hissing noise by my side. 'That's wonderful that you love Rose so much Emmett, but can you please try not to broadcast that fact to the entire valley? We are supposed to be incognito, if you hadn't heard.'

I shrugged sheepishly. 'Sorry Tanya, I can't help myself when it comes to Rose. She just has that effect on me. You know, she makes me want to shout.'

Tanya rolled her eyes.

'Oh, don't let her bother you Emmett, my sisters just jealous. It's been ages since she found a man who could make her scream.'

I grinned at Kate. 'Maybe you girls need to get together more often with vampires instead of human men. You'll be amazed how much our acute attention to detail can help.'

I inclined my heard toward Garrett. 'But you'd already be knowing that by now, wouldn't you Kate?'

Before she could retaliate the rest of our small party of vampires joined us. Siobhan frowned. 'Should you really be talking that way? There are children present.'

Seth bristled from his place next to his sister on a downed tree. 'I'm older than I look. Besides, there's nothing I haven't already heard. Pack minds aren't PG-13 places.'

Quil nodded in agreement. 'Sadly, it's true. I'm so glad I'll never have to relive one of Jared's evenings with Kim. Brutal. That's the only word for it.'

'Hold it Quil, you're in no real position to complain. I've had about as much as I can take of your cutesy baby talk with Claire.'

Quil scowled and took a playful swipe at Embry that would have left a sizeable dent in a normal man's arm. Embry just grinned.

'At least that's G rated.' Seth muttered, but not sounding any happier about that then he had about the higher rated stuff.'

Rose and I joined in the pack's laughter.

I drifted off to another fallen tree and set my equipment bag down on top of it, triple checking to make sure I had everything. I could just barely hear Carlisle and Esme talking, they were a short distance away.

'Oh Carlisle, I don't know if I'll be able to stand it. All these wonderful people. They're risking everything to help us. And it's such a poor chance that everyone will make it back. I wish there was some other way.'

'I would save you from this if I could, dear Esme.' Carlisle was gazing down at Esme's face, enraptured. 'But they've taken our family from us. We have to get them back.'

She bit her lip but smiled up at him. 'If it's going to end today, I am glad that I'll be with you.'

I felt like an intruder, I quickly stuffed everything back into my pack then beat a hasty retreat back to the main group.

I began to gather the members of our small army together.

There was Rose and I, of course. Then there was the Denali coven made up of Tanya, Irina, Kate (and it looks like I need to count Garrett in that coven as well, the way that he and Kate had been looking at each other all night left little doubt about that), and finally Eleazar and Carmen.

Charlotte and Peter were next. I was very grateful to have Peter. Since Jasper was gone Peter was our best war strategist. And standing next to Carlisle and Esme were Liam, Maggie and Siobhan.

Not to forget all of the wolves made up of Jacob's small pack which consisted of him, Leah, Seth, Embry and Quil. If we survived the day, we would forever be indebted to them. If they had not agreed to help the Volturi would know every part of our plan and would be waiting to slaughter us.

I smiled ruefully. And last but not least, our Romanian friends Stefan and Vladimir. They were, hopefully, somewhere down below us in the valley setting up whatever surprise attack that their twisted old minds had come up with.

With a shock I realized that everyone had fallen silent and were all looking to me for orders. It was an odd sensation, having so many look to me for guidance. I glanced at Carlisle out of the corner of my eye. If anyone, he would know of the nervous knot that was beginning to form in my stomach. He caught my eye and smiled encouragingly.

'All right everyone.' I clapped my hands. Ugh, did I really just clap my hands? Dork. 'We've been over and over this plan. But let's review it one last time while we wait for the sun.'

I glanced quickly around. Cool, I still had everyone's undivided attention.

'The Romanian dudes have told us that we are not to attack until dawn. Whatever distraction they have cooked up will begin precisely with the rising of the sun.'

'We have no way of knowing what they'll do, so we'll just have to be ready for anything.'

'Now the wolves have agreed to be our scouts. During our castle siege they are going to be on this hilltop in two different groups, Jacob and Leah in one, Seth, Quil and Embry in the other. Their job is to watch for the return of the Volturi guard. If possible at all, they are to warn us. If the returning party of guards is smaller than we imagine, they will attack. If neither of those two options exist then they are to flee to the rendezvous.'

I kept my eye on Jacob for an extra minute. He had not agreed with this part of the plan at all, but Carlisle had convinced him that the wolves were risking so much for us already that they should not be involved directly with the attack. Jacob had only agreed with Carlisle's logic when Carlisle asked him point blank if he wanted to go back home and explain to tiny Claire where her uncle Quil had gone. Or how he would handle telling Leah and Seth's mother that both of her children were dead.

He seemed reasonably resigned to the plan so I moved on.

'The rest of us are going to be split into smaller groups so that we can try to avoid detection as much as possible.'

I nodded at several vampires. 'Peter, you will lead your team which is made up of Charlotte, Tanya, Kate and Garrett.'

I gestured to several more. 'Carlisle will lead Esme, Liam, Siobhan and Maggie.'

'Myself, Rose, Carmen, Eleazar and Irina will be led by Eleazar.'

'Since Carlisle and Eleazar are both familiar with the Volturi castle, their groups will comprise the search teams. Carlisle's team will search the main part of the castle while Eleazar's will search the dungeons down below.'

I took a deep, steadying breath. 'It is our hope that the Volturi will leave our family behind when they go to meet the Romanian's distraction. If they took them…well, we all just need to pray to whoever we see fit that they'll all be in the castle.'

'Peter is leading the oh shit team.'

I cringed as Esme glared at me. Here we were, off to war, and she was mad that I was using bad language. Such typical mom behavior.

'Peter's team will be stationed near the castle gates. They will be in a perfect position to help with numerous scenarios. If one of the other teams need help they will be able to reach them quickly. If the wolves attack the returning Volturi, they might be able to reach them in time to help. If the Volturi make it back to the castle, they will mount a defense and try to give us as much time as we need.'

I felt hollow inside after this part of the speech. I knew that Peter's group had the most dangerous job. Scenario number three was the most likely. So his group would take the blunt of the returning Volturi's fury. I had not personally assigned the groups or I would have put myself in that position. But I couldn't dwell on that. Time was running low.

'I don't want to put a damper on our morning, it is incredibly early after all, but we need to run through our main target list. Obviously if you can get to one of the leaders, Aro Caius or Marcus, take them down. We can only hope that without leadership the rest of the guard may fall apart.' Carlisle had not approved of this part of the plan. When Peter had first suggested going for the leaders he had gone upstairs to his study for the entire night. He had not come down until morning. When he rejoined he was resigned to that part of the plan and he did not say another word against it.

'The most dangerous of all are those annoying little shits, Alec and Jane.' I made a very obvious effort not to look in my mother's direction, though I could feel her eyes boring into me.

'We may have a chance to take them by surprise. Barring that, we are going to need Bella. Its crucial that whichever team encounters them call it out. If all goes well Bella will have been freed by then and can take them down.' We all knew that taking them by surprise was going to be almost impossible. If we couldn't free Bella…well, I had already thought about that possibility far too much. Jane and Alec could doom our entire operation with one look.

'Watch out for Renata, I'd hate for anyone to forget why they were here. Oh, and Demetri cannot be allowed to live. If our rescue is successful, er, when it is successful, we can't risk the threat that Demetri poses.'

'As for the rest of them, they are all very experienced fighters and many have dangerous powers. You'll have to remember the briefing that Eleazar gave you earlier because our time is about up.'

I dug a tiny black earpiece out of my pocket and slipped it into my ear. 'Microphone up all.'

Everyone began to put their earpieces into place and check to make sure they worked. It was a good thing the Cullen family had a lot of money. These little babies were top of the line military grade. Just a tiny piece of plastic that fits into the ear. They were tuned to transmit nearby sounds with a particular tilt of the head.

'Any questions?' The sky was brightening with every passing minute and I knew the sun was just below the horizon.

There were none. I ducked my head briefly and then looked at everyone in turn while I spoke. 'I want to personally thank each and every one of you for being here. My family and I will never be able to repay the love and courage that you show by being here today.'

'Remember the rendezvous point. I look forward to seeing you all there.'

My eyes blazed a deep black. 'The sun rises. Let's go get my family back.'

The sun had indeed risen behind my back as I was making my final speech. Suddenly there were hugs and hand clasps all around as everyone prepared to depart.

The Quileutes all stepped into the tree cover and returned a moment later as wolves.

I dug in my pocket again and came out with a handful of earpieces and knelt before each wolf, affixing the piece to their ears with a special clip I had made.

They couldn't talk with us in their wolf forms, of course, but they could listen in on all of our conversations at least. We had also agreed that one wolf would phase long enough to tell us when they spied the Volturi. That way Peter's group would have some sort of warning.

My breath caught in my throat as the lithe grey wolf nuzzled the bigger sandy haired wolf. I knew enough about the wolves by now to know that was Leah and her younger brother Seth. I swallowed hard. I had pulled them halfway around the world to help creatures that they were previously sworn to kill. If anything happened to them…

Jacob trotted up to me and gazed at me with his deep black eyes. I put a hand on his massive shoulder. We stood like that for a moment and then we both turned away to see off our troops.

Rose was suddenly by my side. Ever since I had returned to my family with the wolves and given them hope, Rose had blossomed.

She had put aside her former misgivings and self doubt and she had thrown herself whole heartedly into planning and preparing for the rescue mission. I had never been more proud of her.

Suddenly my mind was clouded with the fear of losing her and I pulled her fiercely to me. 'I won't be able to stand it if anything happens to you, my Rose.'

She playfully bit my neck. 'Don't worry Emmett, _I_ won't let anything happen to _you_. Besides, what are the Volturi compared to full grown grizzlies?'

I grinned and let her out of the hug but kept her close by my side.

The various vampire commando groups were ready to leave. Eleazar was gesturing for us.

Peter's group had already gone. As I joined Eleazar I glanced back over my shoulder. Carlisle was preparing his group to head out when he suddenly looked up and met my glance. I probably looked as grim as he did. He held up a hand in farewell. I mirrored his gesture and then they were gone.

I let Rose tug me along as our group raced down the hill toward the city. I had the worst feeling that I wasn't going to see any of our friends alive again.

* * *

**Leah's Point of View**

All the talk was finally over and it was time for action.

A sudden feeling of shame washed over me. I had just been thinking that I was secretly pleased that we would be left out of the action. Not for my own sake, but for the rest of our small, breakaway pack.

I had grown to like and appreciate all the members a lot more than I had when we were in Sam's pack. I also think they'd found my attitude greatly improved and had responded in turn.

Emmett had been right though, when he had talked Jacob into acting only as scouts.

As much as I joked about Quil and Claire, I would be heartbroken to come home to 5 year old Claire without Quil.

If we lost Embry, our little pack would suffer. He was the calm, supportive one who usually stepped in between my and Jacob's numerous arguments. He kept the peace, not in the same way that Jacob did as pack leader, but he kept it just the same.

And…I didn't even want to think about it, but if something happened to Seth…I just…I couldn't go home without him was all. Mom had only lost dad a few short years ago. I didn't know if she could handle losing her son as well.

Then there was Jacob. Notwithstanding all of our petty arguments and lost tempers, we had grown very close over this past month of preparations. If I lost him I wasn't even sure what that would do to me. And that scared me more than anything.

Jacob and I had just split off from the others and he bumped his shoulder against mine.

_There's no shame in your thoughts Leah. After Emmett pointed out to me-_

I snorted. _You mean after he beat it into you._

Jacob did a pretty good imitation of a human shrug. _Either way you look at it, I feel the same way as you. _

We trotted along easily together, russet fur contrasted sharply against my grey, instinctively picking out the best path among the trees to our pre-chosen look out point.

Finally we reached our vantage point on a rocky outcropping of the hill that looked onto the valley and city.

We sat down on the extreme edge of the rock and surveyed the area. Neither one of us minded the great height.

It was a pretty good scouting point. We could see the back of the castle and most of the north and western sides of the city from here.

It was all so overwhelming. I thought I would never count a vampire as my friend, but now I had almost 20 vampire friends. I couldn't believe that I was able to overlook the fact that at least half of them dined on humans.

But overtime I had seen the courage and friendship and love for one another that these vampires possessed. It had touched me. I was reminded of my wolf pack and how we all felt towards one another.

And besides, it looked like one of the bloodsuckers, Garrett, was going to go vegetarian for his new girlfriend. If he could change, maybe they all could.

_Why, Leah. The way you just thought about those bloodsuckers was almost friendly. Maybe you do have a heart, after all._

I snarled and nipped at the back of his neck.

_I'm the ice queen, we all know that I don't have one._

After that exchange we sat in silence for a long time, vigilantly scanning the scene spread out below us. The humans went about their daily business like nothing was out of the ordinary. Cars came and went down the road and we could even see the distant specs inside the city walls that were people going about their normal routines. I shook my head. If only they knew.

We passed the time sitting silently and listening to our earpieces. It sounded like our operation was going relatively smoothly. The diversion of the Draculas had worked, whatever it was, and most of the Volturi were out of the city. Our groups encountered little resistance and weren't coming up against too many problems. They hadn't located any of the prisoners yet, but they were all moving slowly and cautiously so they still had hope they would locate them soon.

More time passed. Suddenly I started to laugh. Jacob looked at me out of one of his eyes, his face cocked toward me in a quizzical pose. Then he heard the joke in my mind and joined me in wolfish, barking laughter.

_I agree. It's a good thing our eyesight is so good. It would be pretty difficult to use binoculars without thumbs._

It was insane for us to be laughing right now but we couldn't help ourselves.

Then my laughter cut off abruptly. It was as if someone had choked my breath away. Jacob saw it at the same time that I did.

Two miniscule figures had just come over the wall of the city nearest us and began to head for the forest to the northwest where the Dracula vamps had been staging their surprise. At almost the same exact moment, in one of those ironic twists of the universe, a group of about 7 grey cloaked figures had emerged from the forest and headed straight for the city.

Neither group could see at the moment, but they were headed straight for one another.

The fur on the back of Jacob's neck bristled and he stood, snarling.

The two figures that had just scaled the city wall could only be Bella and Edward, 1 was short and dark haired while the other was tall and had hair that reflected the rays of the sun. It was also unlikely that 2 humans could have scaled that wall. I didn't know how they had escaped, but that didn't matter right now.

They were alone, and in a very short time they were going to walk right into the hands of 7 Volturi guards.

My head snapped toward Jacob. He still loved Bella. I could hear it in his thoughts, see it in his desperate posture. He knew that there was no way he could warn Bella in time. Our earpieces were useless right now. Even if we did use ours to tell the other vampires, they could never reach them in time.

They would walk right back into the Volturi's hands. I doubted the Volturi would be very forgiving.

Jacob couldn't live without Bella. As this realization hit home, something shattered deep inside me. Something I had never even known was there until this precise moment.

He could never reach her in time to warn them, but I could.

No other wolf had ever been able to match my speed.

All of these thoughts had raced through my head in a matter of seconds.

I leapt to my feet, my head held high.

I wouldn't let anything happen to Jacob's Bella.

I had taken the first leap away from the outcropping, my nails scrabbling for purchase in the rocky descent before Jacob even realized what I was doing. His thoughts caught up with mine as I raced down the hill, sliding more than I was actually moving.

I could feel his shock and horror at what I was about to do. I knew he was coming after me, but I was already at the bottom of the hill. He would never catch me. I blocked out his urgent, desperate thoughts and I ran.

I forced my legs to move faster than they ever had before. If I were to reach them before the Volturi I was going to have to fly.

My ears were pinned back against my head with the force of the wind against them. My heart raced as my breath came more and more ragged. I wouldn't let myself slow down.

What I had finally let myself understand back there, up on the hill, was that I loved Jacob. I don't know how or when it happened, but I was deeply and undeniably in love with Jacob Black.

The only other thing I was sure of as I raced across the valley was that he did not love me, he loved Bella. And I would not have him hurt for anything in the world.

My lungs burned for air as I pushed myself even harder. I hadn't thought up to this point about what I was going to do to warn them. If only Bella and Edward would move upwind and catch the scent of the approaching vampires!

I had to do something! Even pushing myself to my greatest speed I would not reach them in time. There was only one thing left to do.

The Volturi would recognize my call the instant I made it. Our whole operation would be shut down as soon as they recognized it for what it was. But wasn't the point of our mission to rescue Bella and Edward?

They would hopefully come after me. As tough as I liked to think I was, I could never outfight 7 well trained Volturi guards. But it was the only option open to me if I were going to warn Bella and Edward. Hopefully they would recognize my call for the warning that it was and manage to escape.

I dashed another couple hundred feet and then I dug my nails into the ground and sat back, skidding to a stop.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight and sent my last thoughts out with all my might. _I'm sorry, Seth, I'm…sorry Jacob. I love you._

I raised my nose to the burning noon day sun and howled.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: High Noon

**Jasper's Point of View: Rescue Mission**

As soon as Corin had volunteered to take me to Alice my mind had shouted out in triumph and then quickly sunk into battle readiness.

It was an attitude that I had developed a long, long time ago, even before Maria had found me and made me her war leader. As soon as I knew a battle was imminent and immediate my battle analysis would click on and overrule all bodily emotion. I suppose that is what made me such an effective warrior during my human life. The ability to put all fear and rage out of my mind and concentrate only on tactics, weaknesses and strategies.

I almost felt thankful to Maria for having encouraged me to hone this skill as a vampire. Otherwise my worry and rage over Alice would rule my body and I would most likely leap among twenty Volturi single handedly, with no plan, and get myself killed.

I kept my eyes straight ahead while my mind constantly calculated battle plans and moves. I trusted Corin, who was a step ahead of me, to lead us safely and secretly out of the castle.

I was normally wary of trusting anyone outside of my family. Sometimes it was awfully convenient to have a brother who could read minds. If there had been any hint of deception in Corin, Edward would have found it.

Half closing my eyes as I ran, I sampled the mood of my guide. There was bold determination and bloodlust, with not a hint of fear underlying the stronger emotions.

I frowned. So Corin did not care what happened to him. That was a dangerous attitude during a battle. One who went into a fight that way was just as likely to be a danger to his comrades as well as to his enemies. Just one more factor to add into my battle calculations.

I briefly allowed my emotions to flood through my mind. My sweet, sweet Alice. If she were killed in the ensuing battle I knew I would quickly emulate Corin's attitude. One way or another, I would not allow myself to survive if Alice were gone. It took all the willpower that I possessed not to let myself dwell on what a life without Alice would be like. After all, if I arrived on the field of battle and she was not alive, I would not live long enough to experience that kind of a life.

Corin led me through what I assumed were back ways and little used short cuts of the castle. We slipped out a large sewage grate, unnoticed, and melted into the dark pre-dawn city.

We paid little heed to keeping ourselves secret now, trusting only to our great blinding speed to keep us masked from any early risers. With a great struggle, I pushed all worries for Alice out of my mind and let the strategist take over once again.

The great wall of the city loomed higher and higher before us as we raced toward it. Corin came to a screeching halt in front of the wall and crouched almost flat against the ground, then his legs acted like a giant spring and he leapt to the top of the wall in one leap. He vanished over the other side.

I didn't slow my steps but I altered my course and ran unerringly for the flat side of a three story house that ran parallel to the wall. The momentum from my rapid gait carried me four steps straight up the side of the house, then I pushed off with both of my feet and spiraled toward the city wall. I landed lightly on my feet in a crouch on top of the wall, then slid like liquid down the other side and was only a step behind Corin.

He led me on a straight path towards the rapidly approaching forest. 'It will be best if we can reach them right as the fight is starting. I don't know many details, only what I could overhear when Aro first learned of the assault.'

I nodded and spoke, never breaking stride. 'Unfortunately, I know all too much about newborns. Once the fighting starts, just try to stay out of their way. If you do come up against one, just dodge, always dodge. They will come at you straight on and try to get their arms round you. All they know how to do is use blunt force.'

We raced on, our breakneck speed never faltering.

'Avoid the Volturi as well, if at all possible. There is going to be a lot of confusion. There always is in a newborn fight. Our main objective is to find Alice and get her out of there. If you are able to reach her, and I am detained, take her and flee. What happens to me is not important.'

I waited until I saw the slight nod of Corin's head before I went on. 'We should slow at the far reaches of the trees so that you can locate them. It would be best if we attacked right after the newborns' first move. That is when the Volturi will be the most distracted'

It was only a short distance to the fringe of the forest. We quickly arrived and slowed to a stop. My cool calculations stopped for a moment as I curiously watched Corin. Edward had seen in Corin's mind how his power had worked and he had shared it with me back in our cell.

Fascinating, really, to think that human writers and story tellers had at least got right even one true character trait of vampires by pairing them with bats. Even if that trait only belonged to one vampire in particular.

I stood watching silently as he slowly turned from the outer reach of the forest inward.

Suddenly he stopped, looking for all the world like an old pointer hound that I distantly remembered owning.

'Found them.' He pointed with a sure, steady finger to a spot a little to our left.

He spared a quick glance up at the sky then nodded to himself. His gaze whipped quickly to me and he grinned. 'The sun will be upon us soon. Shall we?'

As if at his command, the sun's first rays escaped over the horizon and lit our backs.

I nodded curtly, my lips set into a grim line. We stepped carefully into the forest, moving quietly as ghosts. We were careful always to remain downwind from where Corin had located the waiting Volturi.

Then both of us froze like wild animals who hear an unexpected noise. I swore for a moment that Corin's ears even twitched like those of a hare. The noises of battle had unmistakably begun. Without a signal from either of us we broke into a run at the same time.

The battle was not far from us now.

The Volturi had chosen to lie in wait for the invading newborns among the thick trees of the ancient forest. The guard knew what they were doing from long years of practice with newborn vampires. They would not meet them in the open where the newborn's superior strength and quickness might give them an advantage. The Volturi would instead meet the newborns among the tangling undergrowth and giant trees. No doubt they would use their surroundings to attack the newborns with stealth and agility. The newborns' blind, outright strength would matter little under conditions such as these.

We were abruptly among the combatants. A little off to our right Jane had a pair of newborns writhing in pain from her smile as a nameless grey cloak ripped them to shreds.

We doubled our speed and quickly slipped by. If we were to make it to Alice, it was critical that we steered clear of the twins.

Once we were a safe distance past Jane, I lightly touched Corin's arm and he stopped.

'I'll never be able to pick Alice's scent out of all these others. Do you think you could use your power and find her?'

His usual grin slipped from his face and he frowned as he thought. 'I can certainly try. She is so tiny that it may actually work. Though I have never tried to locate a single vampire among so many spread out so far before.'

Corin's eyes squeezed shut and his hands clenched into fists. While he was searching my mind methodically sifted through plan after plan to act as a contingency if Corin could not locate Alice.

Suddenly his broad grin returned. He whispered, 'Found you.'

I found myself grimly returning his grin. 'Lead on.'

We slithered like ghosts through the dark spaces between the trees. Whatever sun there was rarely penetrated into this forest. The towering trees greedily blocked out the rays.

Then Alice's scent hit me like a freight train. My body froze, quivering, as I inhaled her delicious scent. Corin placed a warning hand on my arm. 'If I know Aro, and trust me, I unfortunately know him very well, he will have remained at the fringes of the battle and will be in constant contact with Alice so as to foresee the direction in which the fight turns. He will know by now that we come for her.'

His grin grew impossibly bigger and his eyes burned with a far off intensity. 'I was once in love, the same as you, and she also was forced from me.'

Then he spoke very quietly in a wistful voice and I was not entirely sure if he was talking to me anymore. 'I allowed myself to forget her. And then I met your sister and I remembered. They are so very much alike.'

His eyes snapped up to meet mine. 'I'll give my life to see that it doesn't happen to you.'

He hurriedly clasped my arm and laughed. 'I doubt your lass will be able to give him warning of this, because I've just made up my mind to do it. Move swiftly, my friend.'

His mood exuded peace and a hard resolve. It was a marked contrast to the emotions swirling around us.

Before I could stop him he was gone. I tore after him. A companion sacrificing himself was never a part of my battle plans.

Corin had raced to the tiniest of clearings. My quick vampire mind took in all the details of the scene before I even took my next step.

All three of the leaders of the Volturi were in the clearing. Alice stood by Aro's side. Renata was in between Aro and Caius. I did not recognize the other three vampire bodyguards that stood among them.

Corin had exploded from the cover of the trees in a shower of leaves and bramble. I arrived in enough time to see the surprise on the Volturi leader's faces. He had made a snap decision after all, then.

He sprinted toward them and shouted in a thick Irish accent. 'Faugh a Ballaugh!'

Renata took a razor sharp step in front of Aro. Another part of my mind registered that Aro had never been Corin's target. He knew the Volturi far better than any of us, so he would have been well aware of Renata's power. His teeth tore into one of the faceless grey cloaked guards on the outer edge of the group.

Then just as quickly he was everywhere, his body just the faintest blur of movement even to my eyes. He was providing a most excellent distraction.

I skirted the edge of the tiny clearing and came around behind Alice. I swept her up into my arms, never breaking stride, and darted back into the trees. She gasped in shock. Her wide, startled eyes met mine. Then her arms were around my neck and her face was buried in my chest. I was sure none of the vampires had noticed me until after I had already turned for the relative safety of the forest.

As I raced through the trees I heard the distinctive, screeching sound of metal tearing behind me. I swallowed hard. Every battle instinct that I had screamed at me to go back. It went against my entire being to leave behind a fellow soldier.

But the rational, ever calculating part of my brain kept me running away. He had sacrificed himself so that I could have my one chance. I would honor that ultimate sacrifice only by getting Alice safely away.

I could sense rather than hear the vampires coming after me. Aro would not let Alice go so easily. I risked a quick glance down. Alice still had her face buried against my chest. She was shaking.

Vicious growls tore from my lips. I would carry Alice through the very depths of hell if I had to. I'd be damned if the Volturi would ever touch her again.

**Bella's Point of View: Reunion**

I'd been lost in Edward's eyes for a long time now. It was totally insane, but we had both completely forgotten where we were as soon as we were reunited and alone together.

I had originally thought that if I ever saw Edward again he would be incredibly damaged. What else was I supposed to think after the short glimpse I had caught of him down in the tunnels?

But the Edward who was holding me…he was as far from damaged as he could be. I rested my head on his shoulder and sighed contentedly. This was my Edward. Loving, brave, strong and in control. He had changed since that fateful day when we were torn apart. But for that matter, so had I. There was a new cool confidence in the way that he carried himself. Yet we still fit together as though we had never been apart.

He pulled away from me and my eyes fluttered quickly up to meet his. He grinned, that amazing half grin that I had fallen in love with.

'I am enjoying myself utterly, Bella, believe me, I truly I think it is time that we made our escape.'

I continued to stare into his deep black eyes. He was hungry, but he would never hurt me. Even if I were still human, he would never have been able to hurt me…

Suddenly I realized that his lips were moving and he had been talking. I shook myself like a dog emerging from water. 'What…'

He let out a long, low sigh. 'This is no time to be dazzled, Bella, we have to get out of here before the Volturi find us.'

Our predicament came back to me like a punch to the stomach. 'We can't leave Jasper and Alice!'

He grabbed my hand and started pulling me back to the ruined elevator shaft. 'Jasper and Corin went to find Alice. Aro took her with the other Volturi to meet the newborn attack.'

I nodded. 'Then we'll follow them and help.'

We stopped in front of the twisted elevator doors and I gasped as I looked down the shaft at the damage that he had done to the elevator. 'Edward!'

He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. 'What did you want me to do? Every second mattered.'

I returned the grin. 'I love you.'

'I love you to, my darling.' Edward was beginning to look dangerously close to losing himself again. I leaned up on tiptoe and kissed the tip of his nose.

'Lets go, oh great destroyer of elevators.'

Amazingly the elevator was still working. I pressed the button and waited until the elevator was one floor below us then jumped through the great gaping hole that Edward had torn through the roof. I jabbed at the button for the ground floor and tapped my foot impatiently.

Edward landed without a sound next to me and took my hand again. He cocked his head to the side and his eyes slid half closed. I frowned. 'What is it?' He shook his head and opened his eyes, he looked utterly confused.

'I am not sure...it was almost like I heard…well no, that's impossible.' My frown deepened and I searched his face for clues of what was troubling him.

Each floor slowly slid by as the elevator whirred down. We could see into each hall, owing to the fact that Edward had ripped the doors free. It was on the third floor that we first got into trouble.

Two grey cloaked guards were waiting for us.

Edward and I stood frozen for the shortest of seconds. Then he gave a brief tug on my hand and I felt myself falling through the hole in the elevator floor that Edward had made earlier.

He was right behind me, but unfortunately, so were the two Volturi guards.

I managed to alight on my feet on the ledge of the first floor hall with Edward right beside me.

Falling and landing gently were so much easier when one was a vampire. The old, clumsy Bella would be lying at a crumpled heap at the bottom.

Edward tugged me down the hall. Our pursuers were not far behind when I skidded around a corner and came to a crashing halt when I slammed against Edward's suddenly motionless body.

I clutched at Edward's arm for support. Coming straight at us were two more grey cloaked shapes. Our pursuers walked sedately around the corner and stopped a few feet away. We were trapped.

I whirled and kept my eyes glued on the vampires behind us while Edward watched the two in front.

My hand groped for his and he squeezed back.

'Well well, what have we here.' Heidi took a short step closer to me. Edward risked a quick glance over his shoulder at her then his head whipped back around to watch the other vampires.

She completely ignored me and spoke to Edward. 'You're not supposed to be out of your cage.' Her eyes raked up and down the back of his body. 'Though I must admit, in the sunlight you look simply delicious.' The tip of her tongue flicked out to run across her lips.

I rolled my eyes. 'Down, girl.'

Her eyes flew to my face as she acknowledged me for the first time. 'Aro will be most displeased with you. I don't think he'll be angry with me at all if I stop you from escaping.' She smirked and her beautiful face turned dark and ugly. 'After all, Aro doesn't like others touching his things.'

She snarled and took another step toward me. 'There will be plenty of time for me to play with the boy after I finish you. If he even knows how to handle a real woman.'

I completely ignored Heidi and risked a glance at Edward. His wild, black eyes met mine for the briefest of moments before we both looked back at our opponents.

'Do you remember everything that Jasper taught you?' I nodded. "Yes.'

I dropped his hand and rotated my body completely to face Heidi and her companion. My back brushed against Edward's. 'I've got your back.'

I felt the slight rush of wind as he returned my nod. "As I have yours.'

I gave Heidi my most sickeningly sweet smile, then raised my hand and gave her my best 'come and get it' gesture.

The world erupted into chaos.

We were outnumbered, but as we fought it was as if we belonged to one body. Every time that Edward had to leave a part of him exposed to an assailant as he dealt with the blows of another, I was there blocking for him.

Whenever an attack of mine exposed a vulnerable spot on my attacker, Edward was there to take advantage of it.

It was as if, finally, Edward and I completely understood one another. I knew all of his weak spots and was able to guard them, just as he knew all of mine. He knew my strengths and gave me the best opportunities to use them, as I did for him.

I would never be able to say how long we fought, back to back, in that corridor against our enemies.

Afterward, I had the time to marvel at Edward. Before, it had always been he who had protected me. He was always crouching in front of me defending me from some enemy. But now we were equal. Edward understood that I was able to defend us as well as he ever had and that we were now partners, and oh how I loved him for that.

Edward and I slowly but surely began to eliminate our foes.

Heidi was the last vampire standing. She was tougher and more experienced than the others had been, and Edward and I were worn down from the long fight.

Edward risked a quick glance at me, and I saw his plan reflected in his eyes in the bare second before he carried it out. I hardly had time to feel nervous.

He feigned an attack at Heidi but leapt to the side instead and for just the briefest of moments he left his throat exposed to her.

She recognized his slip in an instant and dove for him, completely forgetting me as she went in for the kill.

It was as if everything moved in slow motion.

My reaction was based purely on instinct. I pushed all worry and terror from my mind as my arms reached out toward Heidi. Her razor sharp teeth were almost at Edward's exposed throat when my arms wrapped around her from behind.

I could feel her surprise as she froze. My hands continued to move on their own as they brushed against Heidi's hair, coming to rest one on either cheek. My touch against her was almost a caress as I firmly wrenched her head to the side and broke her neck.

Edward was a blur of movement as he collected all the pieces of the defeated Volturi guards. He kicked and threw them all down the elevator shaft. Before he rolled Heidi's body over the edge, he pulled a lighter from her jacket pocket. With a casual flick of his thumb the flame burst to life. He gave Heidi's body the gentlest of shoves, then dropped the still burning lighter in after her.

Edward had already gathered me in his arms when the thick, heady smoke began to rise up the shaft. I was shaking. Heidi and the other guards had been evil, I knew that. The casual way she lured droves of humans to their gruesome deaths was unforgivable.

But it was a different thing entirely to take her life from her. Even knowing that she had deserved to die ten times over didn't make the fact that I had carried out that sentence any easier.

Edward rubbed the small of my back and held me close. I blinked quickly and glanced up into his black eyes. I knew if I was still capable I would be blinking back tears.

I swallowed hard. 'Does…does it ever get easier?'

The corners of his mouth turned into a frown and he spoke softly. 'It never has for me.'

'Even knowing that the person you just killed deserved it?'

He shook his head and cupped my face in his palm. 'No. It never does.'

His eyes slipped away from me as he stared at the wall behind my head, unseeing. 'All those people I killed when I was first turned…I knew they were evil. I knew that if I did not kill them, they would hurt others. I convinced myself at the time that they deserved to die. But…it was never easy after the deed was done. It was the quiet time after the killing that I would begin to doubt myself. What if they would have changed their minds before committing the act? What if they would hurt someone, but then go on and live the rest of their lives to the great benefit of others?'

His eyes slowly returned to me. 'I don't believe it will ever get easier for you, my Bella. And it never should.'

He held me to him for another moment and then gently took my hand. 'I believe its time we found a way out of here.'

**Leah's Point of View: Love's Challenge**

The Volturi had heard me. I could smell in the wind the exact moment when they shifted their course to intercept me.

I slowly got to my feet and lifted my head high. My eyes were blazing as I faced the spot where I knew they would soon appear. No reason to go out like a chump, Leah. How about I take some of them with me?

Their sickly sweet scent hit me like a brick wall as they materialized into view. All 7 of them stood in a straight line as they slowly advanced toward me. My nose wrinkled up in distaste. What a shame that this horrible odor would be the last thing I would ever smell.

The middle vampire took a step beyond the others and rubbed his hands together. A growl started to form low in my throat as he spoke.

'What a wonderful surprise!' He flashed his sparkling white teeth at me as he chuckled. 'I had no idea that today was going to be so delightful! First we get to visit with our dear old Romanian friends, and now I get to meet you.' He frowned and his head dipped to the side for a moment. 'Such as shame though, that it was the _last_ time we shall ever have the occasion to meet. No matter, no matter. Simply marvelous, a werewolf, here, in old Italy!'

I frowned. This vampire didn't look the 6 others who stood behind him, he looked like the Dracula vamps he had just claimed to have killed. His skin looked like crumpled old parchment and his eyes were all milky.

He glanced over his shoulder at one of the vampires standing behind him. 'What do you make of her, Chelsea? I imagine the relationship between her and the other pack members must be incredibly strong, though I don't believe any others are too close by.'

The one he referred to as Chelsea returned his smile. 'Would you like me to see if I can alter the bond?'

The hackles on the back of my neck rose. I didn't like the sound of that at all.

The old vampire's smile grew so big that I started to hope it would break his brittle looking face. 'That should be a very interesting experiment. Especially since her pack is at such a great distance from her.'

My entire body flushed warmly from a thrill of mingled excitement and dread as a familiar mind finally pushed away the barrier I had erected for myself.

_They might not be as far from her as you'd hoped._ I didn't need to turn around to know that the giant russet wolf had silently appeared behind me.

The snarl that was slipping from him was enough to make me want to shake in fear, and I even knew I was perfectly safe from his anger. He strode forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with me. I didn't think the ancient vampire could look any more pleased if an elementary school tour bus full of human children had pulled up in front of him.

_I didn't think you'd come after me_.

I could have sworn that one great eye had rolled back in his head in seeming exasperation. _That's exactly it, you don't think. Maybe you should try it sometime before running off and getting yourself into trouble, Leah. _I saw a brief flash of my foolish solitary attack on a newborn vampire. My light grey face would probably be scarlet right now if such a thing were possible for a wolf.

All of the vampires were now slowly advancing on us and the old one's eyes were almost dancing in anticipated delight. 'The bond between these two must be strong for him to come to her and face certain death! Chelsea, do you think you can break it?'

Suddenly I felt a weird sensation, not unlike a physical tug. Quicker than I could blink all of my doubts and confusion about Jacob and my newfound feelings for him rushed back to invade my thoughts.

I gulped. It was a bit like drowning. I had too many misgivings about my feelings for Jacob. He had always loved Bella. I had been nothing to him save a member of the audience that had witnessed his tragic love for Bella scene by intimate scene.

I was nothing but an annoyance to the entire pack. It was bad enough for the others to know each others every thought and action, but to have a girl privy to that private information was unbearable.

Not only was it embarrassing for me to see every one of their thoughts, I had worked hard at making my every thought torture to all of them. I went out of my way to cause annoyance and pain. I would never be more than a hindrance to the entire pack, and Jacob could never love me. He barely tolerated me.

I blinked back a great tear. None of that mattered. So what if Jacob Black could never return the love I felt for him. I was still a member of the pack, and I would do my best right now to represent them well.

I squared my shoulders and faced the vampires again. Jacob's strong, reassuring shoulder brushed up against mine to lend me support. I worked hard not to listen to his thoughts, but it was taking all my willpower to crush my feelings of inadequacy.

I would not live long enough to see them take down Jacob, I would die fighting for him.

Suddenly I missed the rest of our pack with a gut wrenching ache. I didn't really wish that they were alongside us right now, but I missed the feeling of unity and support that we all shared.

The ancient one waved his hand in dismissal. 'Oh well, no matter Chelsea. The rest of the pack must be around somewhere, we can experiment on them later. Right now, we have pressing matters to attend to back at the castle. Santiago and his guard will be waiting to meet up with us in the dungeons. Let's finish them.'

Jacob and I both growled ferociously and crouched, shoulders still touching. We were ready to fight. If only we weren't so outnumbered and alone.

A clear, strong voice rang out behind the approaching Volturi. 'But your not alone, Leah.'

I tore my eyes from the Volturi and looked behind them, searching for the owner of the voice. Edward and Bella were walking slowly told us, hand in hand. They must have recognized my call and come to investigate. All my efforts had been in vain, then, I had not been able to warn them away. I glanced quickly at Jacob. I couldn't read any emotion in his stoic wolfy face.

'Jacob?' Bella's eyes were searching the russet wolf beside me. His head dipped in a nod of greeting and he whined softly.

I swallowed hard. Get over yourself, Leah. Now is not the time for jealousy. Now is the time to fight.

There was a flicker of some strong emotion from Jacob beside me, but I did not have time to interpret it as the Volturi chose that moment to pounce on us. They had completely ignored Edward and Bella. They probably thought they could finish us off quickly and then turn to deal with them.

Jacob and I surged forward to meet the oncoming Volturi. We managed to slip unscathed through their initial assault and meet up with Edward and Bella on the other side.

The Volturi came back around and headed toward us again. I coolly assessed the situation. The ancient one seemed to be hanging back just slightly while 2 of the guard hovered close by his side. They didn't seem to be attacking at all, only advancing with the others. The safety of the ancient one must be their top priority, yet at the same time they clearly wanted to confuse us by throwing greater numbers at us.

The combat was fierce. Even though the Volturi had the advantage of numbers, Jacob and I shared a pack mind which helped us immensely in coordinating our attacks. Edward and Bella were moving as if they possessed a similar pack mind, and I knew that Edward could hear not only mine and Jacob's thoughts, but the thoughts and moves of all the Volturi as well. If he could only keep track of everything, we would have a great advantage.

Jacob and I managed to take down 1 of the guards as Edward barked out terse instructions and warnings. Edward and Bella had worked together to take down another, but there were still 5 of them and only 4 of us.

The Volturi had fallen back to regroup, and once again my mind reeled as all of my jumbled up emotions assailed me again. Jacob laid his head briefly against my shoulder, as if he heard my confusion and wanted to give me some of his strength.

Just as it was starting to look like we might have a chance (Jacob and I were very close to taking apart another Volturi), the scents of 2 new vampires assaulted me.

I groaned. We were already tiring, we would never be able to take on 2 fresh Volturi and the ones we were already fighting.

In the second it took my mind to work through the new problem, I heard an exultant hiss from Edward. I didn't have time to consider what that meant as a vampire took a snap at my unguarded left side. But Jacob was there in a flash and deflected the attack.

My attacker hesitated for the briefest of moments. Jacob and I took advantage of that lull in concentration and lunged, ripping great chunks from the distracted vampire. It was now 4 against 6, counting the new attackers.

Then I almost froze. A new voice rang out over the battle. 'Caius is ours!'

A wolfish grin flashed across my face. 6 to 4 now. In our favor.

Jacob lunged for the vampire called Chelsea as the 2 new attackers went for the ancient one and his final protector. Edward was by Jacob's side in an instant to finish Chelsea off.

That left Bella and I to finish off our own. Bella was surprisingly strong and lethal, especially since most of my memories of her involved her falling down or injuring herself.

I risked a glance at her. At least Jacob knew how to pick them, I could at least give him that.

And then it was all over. The ancient vampire's final protector lay in pieces on the ground, and he was cowering in front of the new arrivals.

Bella was quickly gathering up the pieces of the defeated Volturi into a great pile. I moved swiftly to help her and when we were done she pulled out a lighter and set fire to the mound of vampire parts.

I looked up when we were finished with our task and found myself instantly disgusted. The ancient one was pleading for his revolting life.

The smaller of the new arrivals took a step closer to him and knelt so that she was face to face with him. Suddenly I remembered. That was Alice, and the taller male with the honey colored hair standing protectively over her was Jasper. They were all safe. A wave of relief washed over me. It was over. We could all go safely home.

The small vampire spoke, and her voice sounded hollow and dead. 'You took my entire life from me, Caius. And now you have the audacity to plead for yours?'

She snarled at him, and her perky, elvish face twisted in fury. 'Do you want me to tell you your future now, Caius?'

The ancient vampire swallowed hard, his eyes were stuck to the ground, he could not make himself meet hers. 'Please, Alice. I've had such a very long, long life, you can't imagine all the wondrous things…'

Alice laughed harshly and cut him off. 'Frankly, Caius, I don't have the heart to imagine half the things you have seen and done in your life. There's only one thing that I see about your miserable life.' She leaned very close and placed her lips next to his ear as he trembled in fright. 'That it's over.'

Her lips moved so fast that they were just a blur. Her teeth sank into the ancient flesh of Caius' neck and she ripped him to pieces.

When she was finished she stood up slowly, shaking. She pirouetted on one foot and buried her face into Jasper's chest. He held her tight and stroked her hair.

I helped Jacob add the pieces of Caius to the smoldering bonfire.

And then it was all over. There was nothing else to do. I was inescapably facing something that was even more terrifying than an outnumbered assault from the Volturi. Jacob Black knew how I felt about him. He would most definitely not return those feelings. I think I would rather face the Volturi again than face him now.

Suddenly his thoughts vanished. I whirled around to discover him emerging from behind the bonfire in his human form. I wanted to slink away and find a hole somewhere to hide.

As he walked past me he placed a hand on my head and winked at me. 'Go get dressed and join us Leah, we have a few things to discuss and not a lot of time.'

I bristled. What had that wink been about? I knew with an absolute certainty that Jacob knew how I felt about him. Had I really been so horrible before that he wanted to rub my nose in it now?

I closed my eyes briefly and then slunk behind the fire to shift back to human form. I absentmindedly pulled on the simple cotton dress that had been tied to my leg. I usually preferred jeans and t shirts to dresses, but it was much simpler to just carry around one piece of clothing than several.

Damn. I fingered the hem of my dress. There was a giant rip from the hem to my upper thigh. I shrugged and emerged from behind the fire. Oh well, I had nothing to be modest about. And besides, no one here thought about me like that anyway.

My last thought made me wince. I don't think my sarcasm will help me here. It had been my only shield against Sam and Emily's relationship. But the hurt ran too deep for that this time.

Jacob had gathered Bella into an enormous bear hug. I felt like I had been stabbed in the heart. Get a grip, Leah. You're just going to have to get used to this, because I am not going to let you run away. You owe your life to Jacob now, 2 times over. You are going to stay by his side and be the friend that he needs and deserves.

He swung her around as I came to stand at the back of the group. Alice was now leaning back against Jasper who had his arms still tight around her. It looked as if some life was beginning to return to her eyes. I smiled tightly at her. I had always liked the sprightly little vampire more than the others. I fervently hoped she would be ok.

I was a little shocked to see that Edward was showing no jealously toward Jacob and Bella at all.

I had no time to think about that, however, as I received an even bigger shock. Jacob had finally set Bella down and she turned to me, her eyes sparkling and a bright smile on her face. 'I'm so happy for you two!'

I frowned at Bella and studied her warily. Maybe she had knocked her head during the fight. I had no idea what she was talking about.

Suddenly she frowned and her eyes went wide. 'Don't you know?' She whirled on Jacob and glared at him. 'She doesn't know?'

My frown deepened. 'What don't I know?' As if it wasn't bad enough that I was going to have to try to be nice to this girl for Jacob's sake, she was already lording secrets over me that she shared with him.

My gaze flew to Edward. He was glancing from me to Bella to Jacob and then back to me. The corners of his mouth kept twitching up and it looked like he was going to burst out laughing any second.

This was too much for me. I wasn't going to stand around and be the blunt of some unknown joke that they all shared. I would go and find the rest of the pack and wait to return home. I spun around quickly and was about to say to hell with my clothes and shift into wolf form when an arm caught at my wrist.

I glared up into Jacob's smiling face. 'I really don't see anything funny, Jacob Black. In fact, I think your being really horrible right now…'

And then my heart completely stopped. Jacob had rolled his eyes while I started to tell him off and his grin had vanished. Then he had pulled me against him in one swift movement and kissed me.

I was too stunned to return the kiss and I just stared at him as he reluctantly pulled away.

He stared back at me, his eyes penetrating deep into mine. Then he spoke very softly, and it was as if we were the only 2 people left in the entire world.

'If you hadn't had your heart set on being so noble and sacrificing as you raced to your death you would have heard what my thoughts were screaming at you.'

I took a deep breath, realizing only now that I had been holding it since before Jacob had kissed me.

His eyes melted as he continued to gaze into mine. He raised a large hand and swept a stray strand of hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear. 'I said I loved you too, Leah.'

Our lips met again with a force not unlike that of 2 magnets coming together. We only came apart at the loud whistle that Edward let out behind us.

Jacob pulled reluctantly away and leaned his forehead against mine. 'You and me, we're not finished.'

I could only nod, having completely been unable to find my missing voice.

He turned and led me back to the waiting group of vampires. He quickly explained to them that all of their family and friends had come to rescue them and that some of them still remained in the castle.

I looked around us in sudden surprise. The 3 remaining members of our pack had come up silently upon us. I shook my head roughly. I really needed to snap out of it and start paying attention.

The sandy wolf trotted up to me, his tongue lolling and his lips curled up in what I could only describe as a smile. He looked quickly between me and Jacob and rolled his eyes. I gave a quick laugh and pushed him. He pushed back against me. I was so small and his wolf form had grown so large in the past year that he came all the way up to my head. When he pushed against me he had dislodged the ear piece from my ear.

It slowly dawned on me at that point that our ear pieces had been eerily silent for the past half hour. Jacob had finished with his explanation to the vampires and he nodded at me as if he heard my thoughts. 'I think they're in trouble.'

My resolve tightened. So we weren't finished yet. 'We have to go help them.'

**Emmett's Point of View: And we all Fall Down**

It was easy. Too easy. We had slipped into the city like wraiths. We encountered no opposition from the Volturi. Either the Romanian vamps' distraction had worked…or we were in for one huge ambush.

I was very glad Peter had suggested we all wear sweatshirts so we could raise the hoods to cover our faces in the sunlight. We could have worn cloaks, but we wanted to distance ourselves from the Volturi as much as possible.

I lowered the brown hood of my sweatshirt as Eleazar led us into a little used side entrance. I quickly threw a glance at Rose. She was wrinkling her nose in disgust. A dark, dank sewer tunnel lay before us.

Eleazar flashed a quick grin at Rose. 'Sorry ladies, but this tunnel will give us the best and fastest route to the dungeons.' He gallantly held his hand out for Carmen. She took it and stepped daintily into the sewer tunnel.

Irina shrugged and followed behind. 'Always the odd one out.'

I mimicked Eleazar's gallant gesture to Rose and even bowed. 'Or I could carry you, if you want.'

She rolled her eyes at me and shoved my hand aside and jumped into the sewer tunnel with a great splash. I couldn't keep the smile from spreading across my face. Rose seemed prissy on the outside, but when the cards were down she'd be one of the first to get down and dirty. And besides…I had a much better view when I walked behind Rose and not beside her. I licked my lips and she tossed a smirk over her shoulder at me. Sometimes I was sure she had ESP, she always knew when I was checking her out.

Eleazar led us swiftly and surely down winding tunnels in a path that I was sure I could never remember.

Suddenly Peter's voice carried softly into my ear, announcing that his team was in position. Carlisle checked in soon after that and reported that they had begun their search of the upper castle. Eleazar added his own report and then there was silence as we continued to work our way to the dungeons.

Eventually Rose slowed so that I could catch up to her. She slipped her hand into mine and snuggled against my side as we walked. 'You know, Emmett, these tunnels kind of remind me of Phantom of the Opera.'

I groaned as she laid out all the similarities and then began discussing which actor she thought played the Phantom the best. Oh no. Rose was obsessed with the theater, especially musicals. If we made it out of this alive, she was gonna make me listen to her Phantom of the Opera soundtrack for the next year.

Hmm…get ripped apart by the Volturi, or listen to musical soundtracks constantly? I wasn't really sure which I preferred.

My musings were interrupted when Eleazar held up a hand in warning. We all instantly froze.

He spoke so softly that we could barely hear him. 'Through this grate is the hall that leads to the dungeons. If the Volturi have any of your family down here, they will most certainly have left guards. We must proceed with the utmost caution.'

The air developed a sudden thickness. All of our joking moods were instantly gone and the mood was deadly serious. I lowered my center of gravity and trailed after Eleazar in a hunter's crouch.

We reached the grate and Eleazar lifted it soundlessly and we all passed under. He settled it back into place behind him without a noise and motioned us forward.

Rose's grip tightened on my hand and hers shook slightly. I almost scrapped the whole mission and ran with her from the city. I knew her hand didn't shake from fear for herself, but for me and our family and all our friends. That was a fear I could respect, because I also felt it.

We were nothing but five shadows as we stalked towards the dungeons. Every few feet we paused and would all sniff the air. It was impossible to tell if Volturi guards were just ahead or behind us, their scent permeated the air so thickly. They could have passed by here five minutes or five hours ago and we wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Then the first dungeon door was in sight. There were no Volturi. We moved from dungeon to dungeon and didn't see any signs of my family or the Volturi. Suddenly Eleazar stiffened. Rose and I were at his side in an instant.

The scene before us blew my mind.

There were scattered pieces of vampire in every direction, some were slowly crawling towards other pieces in the hope of fusing back together. A thick wooden door was lying in the middle of the hall with large lumps underneath it. The door had very obviously been ripped from its hinges and thrown with considerable force.

Most striking of all was the scent that permeated the air in this hall. It was my brothers, Jasper and Edward. I heard a strangled gasp beside me from Rose. Then she flew to the door and hurled it from the vampire bodies it covered.

I was only one step behind Rose. Her shoulders visibly sagged and she let out a sigh of relief. 'It's not them.'

I frantically looked over the pieces of vampire in front of us and knew she was right. Even in this sort of dismembered state, we would be able to recognize our brothers. I placed my hands on Rose's shoulders and pulled her away from the bodies as Eleazar pulled out a lighter and set fire to the pieces.

We walked into the open dungeon and glanced around quickly to confirm that our brothers had gone. They had definitely been here, we could smell that. I closed my eyes as I grimaced. I had no idea if they'd spent the entire time imprisoned in here. I couldn't even begin to imagine what they'd been through.

I came back to myself as Rose tugged on my arm. 'Come on, Emmett.' She murmured. 'Eleazar said this was the last cell to be searched, we have to report in to Carlisle and Peter.' I nodded mutely.

'Our search of the dungeons is complete. We found where Jasper and Edward must have been kept, but it looks like there was recently a fight and they are no longer here.'

After a moment's pause Carlisle's voice came back over the ear piece. 'We are almost finished with our search of the castle floors. We found signs of Alice and Bella but they are not here. We only came across two living guards, but we also found the some burnt vampire remains in a ruined elevator shaft. The fire that burned could not have been set much earlier. I have to believe that none of our family was burned, but I have to admit that the pyre confuses me. We have to assume that the Volturi must have taken them all out to the forest to meet Vladimir and Stefan's diversion.'

My fists clenched involuntarily at my sides. Our worst fears had been confirmed. We now had a horrible choice before us. We could flee and live to possibly fight another day, or we could remain and hope that enough of the guard had been eliminated so that we'd have a chance to free our family by force.

That was, if our family still even lived…The vision of those unidentifiable burnt remains churned a gaping hole in my stomach.

I glanced at my watch and swore under my breath. Much more time had gone by than I had thought. It was noon. As good of a diversion as the Romanian's must have staged, it couldn't possibly last much longer than this.

The silence was finally broken by Carlisle. 'We all knew there was a chance that they would be removed from the castle. The evidence before us suggests that they may have attempted escape on their own, but we cannot be sure of it. Our options are before us. I do not hold anyone except for myself, but I will stay and try to free my family. Stefan and Vladimir must have thinned the ranks of the Volturi. We cannot know by how much, but this will probably be our best and last chance to free them. I will stay and fight.'

Esme stated that she would remain as well. Rose added that she and I were in. One by one, all the other vampires added that they would stay as well.

It was quickly decided that all the groups would meet up with Peter's by the entrance to the castle. The corner of my mouth lifted in a smirk. How ironic that we would be defending the Volturi's own castle against them.

Rose and I held hands as we swiftly followed Eleazar and the others as he led the way to our meeting spot.

And then all hell broke loose.

The world moved in sickeningly slow motion. We had been about to leave the dungeons behind when a mass of grey shrouded shapes materialized in front of us. They took one swift glance at our little group and all immediately crouched into attack poses.

The Volturi had returned to their castle.

Before we could even prepare they attacked. My eyes were still following every movement of their leaps as a familiar, excited voice squawked in my ear. 'We found them! They're all safe and with us! Meet us back at the rendezvous!' I barely registered Seth's voice as I pushed Rose behind me

Two grey bodies collided into mine. I held my ground, barely, as my ears were assaulted by the thunder of vampire bodies meeting all around me. Then all my attention was held by the two guards who were intent on ripping me to pieces.

The pure raw force of my attacks was enough to keep them at bay at the beginning. They only cautiously feinted and tested my defenses. Every time one of them got too close to me I struck with all the force that I could muster.

My senses were alert enough that I could hear Rose's barely audible gasp behind me. Not even a second after her gasp I heard a heart rending howl that competed with the horrible screech of metal tearing as a vampire was ripped apart.

Oh god, was that Eleazar? I didn't have time to ascertain if the ripping sounds came from his body or from his mate, Carmen.

I growled in fury and the next time one of my attackers lunged at me, instead of stepping nimbly back as I had been I lunged forward to meet him head on. The force behind my lunge threw us both back into the wall. I took great pleasure in grinding his head into the stone of the wall. It was interesting, seeing which would give first, his skull, or the thick ancient stone wall. In the end, the stone wall won, for it still stood, and the guard did not.

I whirled in time to see Rose and Irina fighting off my other attacker. At the same time, out of my peripheral vision, I could see Eleazar fighting for his life against three other guards.

I had only the barest of seconds to register what was going on with Eleazar when my attention was brutally pulled back to Rose and Irina. Their attacker had flung Rose bodily down the hall and was on Irina, ripping her to shreds. The guard was finished with her and was advancing on my stunned Rose when Eleazar let out another guttural howl.

The three guards were all around him and he was being torn to shreds. He managed to free his arm and stretched it out pleadingly to me for help.

My eyes met Eleazar's for one agonizing moment. I saw the absolute terror in his. Then his eyes skipped down the hall and he saw the guard quickly advancing on a still stunned Rosalie. He closed his eyes and then vanished under the three guards.

My body was already moving in the direction of Rose before Eleazar had shut his eyes. My last view of him and my act of abandonment had torn a large chunk out of my soul. But there had been no real choice for me. Rosalie was my life. I would turn my back on my entire family for her. Even if only to die at her side.

By the time I reached them he was already on top of her, his fingers curled into talons as he grabbed for Rose's arms to hold her down. She was barely managing to keep him from tearing her apart.

My eyes were burning pitch black as I ripped him from my Rose. The force of my throw hurled him down the hall and into the wriggling mass of grey on top of where Eleazar had made his last stand.

I hauled Rose to her feet and we both crouched side by side. I stole a quick glance at her and our eyes locked. Hers were as deep and dark as my own and there was no hope.

She turned to me and kissed my lips passionately as the Volturi advanced on us. Everything between us was expressed in that simple gesture. We didn't need to say anything.

**Edward's Point of View: The Battle is Fought  
**

Jacob handed me his earpiece right before he shifted back into wolf form. The other wolves had followed suit and handed their pieces to a vampire before phasing.

We all sprinted at top speed back to the last place I ever thought I would willingly head toward.

I almost stumbled as I heard my father's voice speak next to my ear. 'Edward? Edward are you really safe!? Is everyone else with you? Are the wolves ok?'

I couldn't speak for a moment, too many emotions were whirling inside me. Luckily, Jasper saved me from having to speak.

'We are all here Carlisle. We're headed back to meet up with you at the castle. What is your position?'

Carlisle's voice came back again, but this time pain flooded his words. 'Eleazar's group was just attacked and we are not sure if any survived, we only received garbled bits of the fight.'

I heard Bella gasp beside me. Alice's thoughts broke into my mind. _Eleazar's group? Eleazar is here? But…who was in his group?_

'The Volturi are already back, we can try to escape on our own. Just take the wolves and go, save yourselves.'

Jasper's calm voice broke through. 'Peter, we're coming to help. Please let us know where to meet you.'

Peter's voice came back and told us where they were going to make their stand.

I shook my head as we continued to sprint, the city growing ever larger with every second that flew by. Jasper must have guessed that Peter would be with them, and knew that he would likely be the calmest and most likely to let us help. If this was going to come down to an all out battle, we were lucky to have Jasper and Peter with us.

Everyone's minds were preparing for the battle to come when one wolf's thoughts jumped out at me. _That bloodsucker Edward must have had a vicious blow to the head or something. I can't believe he didn't try to make Bella stay behind. This is not going to be a pretty fight._

I grinned. I guess I had changed. In my heart, I would forever want to shield Bella from any harm. But I had finally learned to accept that Bella was my partner, my equal. She could protect herself just as well as I could protect her. I would never again leave her behind while I ran off to defend her. We would be together, always, in every way.

The city wall loomed large ahead of us. We had not slowed down or tried to disguise our presence from humans. If anyone saw blurry, vaguely human shapes moving at super human speed, or five impossibly large wolves barreling toward the city, then they would just have to pay for the resulting therapy and move on with their lives.

We all vaulted or scaled the wall. Once over, Jasper led us back toward the castle. He did use some discretion now and tried to stick mainly to back streets and alleyways.

Peter's collected voice came through the ear piece. 'It must have been a smaller, advance guard that attacked Eleazar's group. The Volturi knew that we would be here. The main body of the guard is at the gate. I do not think we can keep them out much longer.'

Jasper's answered calmly. 'Hold them off as long as you can, but fall back if they are going to break through. You know there are certain members among them that can drop you all at a glance. Bella is the only one who will be able to take them down. You have to hold out until we can reach you.'

Peter said that he understood and we were suddenly at a back door of the castle. Jasper was in the lead and he kicked the door in with one massive strike.

Bella took over the lead and I was right by her side. She led us deftly through the winding halls. God, but she was beautiful. I could spend all day watching her run.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I couldn't afford to get distracted, I needed all of my senses to be ready for the desperate battle that lay ahead of us.

There was no way around it now. Either the Volturi would destroy all of us, or we would destroy all of them. Only one side would live out the day.

I snuck another glance at my wonderful Bella. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she guided as through the castle. Her lower lip jutted out just a bit as well. Her thick, dark hair was sprayed out behind her. I grinned.

We had had nowhere near enough time together…There would never be enough time to sate my deep need for Bella.

My thoughts were ripped away from Bella as thoughts from a dozen other minds leapt suddenly into mine. I hissed out loud. 'I can hear them! The Volturi are right behind them, I don't think they can hold out much longer.'

Peter had been constantly calling out new positions to Bella as we ran. We just kept moving higher and higher. A deep finality settled over me. Peter had just announced that they had been chased all the way onto the roof of the castle. There would be no escape.

And then we could hear fighting above us. Bella crouched and sprung for the catch of a trapdoor above us. A heavy wood panel swung down. Our entire group managed to meet everyone else's eyes for a moment. I dipped my head once. 'Good luck.'

I took Bella's hand and we vaulted upward and out onto the roof together. The rest of our group followed quickly and I had a few seconds to survey the scene. There was Carlisle and Esme, fighting desperately side by side. The Irish were there as well, all three of them. And then there was Peter with Charlotte and part of the Denali coven.

_Emmett…Rosalie…_

The realization hit me the exact same time as it hit Alice. Our brother and sister were missing.

My face screwed up in agony and rage. No. No, it was impossible. I quickly searched for their thoughts but I couldn't find them. It couldn't be.

With another part of my mind I saw Tanya, Kate and Garrett brought to their knees by Jane's beatific smile.

The Volturi were just toying with them. With the twins on their side, they could defeat my family any time they wished. I risked a quick glance to my wife at my side. Her features were molded into quiet fury.

The vile, twisted thoughts of Aro assaulted my mind. _All too easy._

I threw back my head and growled a challenge for the whole world to hear.

I could hear Jasper, then Alice, and then Bella's voices all join mine. The wolves turned their noses up to the sky and howled their challenge as well.

The Volturi turned. They were all clearly shocked by our arrival. Most of their eyes moved over my family and rested on the wolves.

My voice ripped harshly from my throat. 'Bella! Now! You have to take out the twins now!'

As a group we all charged the Volturi. I howled in dismay as the entire world went dark and silent. No no no! Alec was incapacitating us all. Bella could never reach the twins by herself through all of the Volturi! Our help was all for naught.

And just as quickly as it had vanished, the world came crashing back to me.

I blinked and gasped. I gasped again when I heard similar sounds of startlement erupt around me.

But the twins were still standing, how did we have all of our senses?

In the next second I understood why. Bella stood straight and tall, eyes blazing, a triumphant smile lighting up her face. And I heard her! I heard her mind. She had finally perfected her wonderful gift. She was shielding every last one of us.

Aro looked at the twins and then looked at all of us in shock as we all climbed back to our feet off our knees.

There was an entire minute of utter stillness and quiet as both sides processed what exactly had just happened.

That moment of peace was finally broken as I flashed Bella a dazzling smile. 'I love you.' She winked back at me. 'I know.'

And then the battle was upon us. Our side had the best of the positioning. Even though the Volturi had large numbers, they were caught in between our group and the remaining ten members of the failed search party.

The three waves met with an epic crash. All of the Volturi's special powers were rendered useless to them.

Jasper's silent battle cry goaded me into action. _For Emmett and Rose!_

I ran to meet the coming Volturi, Bella at my side.

We fought side by side, as we had done earlier when we were alone. We ripped through two Volturi and came suddenly face to face with the twins. Alice and Jasper appeared at our side.

Jasper snarled. 'We'll take Alec.' Alice and Jasper were upon Alec in a second. He could not defend long against their attacks and fell.

Bella and I faced Jane. She looked almost scared. 'I…I don't understand. Why aren't my powers working? What have you done?'

I growled at her. 'Not so confident now, are we Jane? Not so easy to face an attacker when you're helpless, is it?'

She glared at both of us. 'No matter, I can still destroy both of you.' She spat at Bella and attacked.

Bella and I worked flawlessly together as a team to counter all of Jane's attacks. It was almost like we were performing some complicated, amazingly fast dance that only we knew the steps to.

Jane fought like an enraged animal, but she had hid behind her power for far too long. Her fighting skills were no match for Bella and I.

I could see the hatred in her eyes as she made her final, fatal lunge for Bella. Bella stepped neatly aside and Jane came crashing into my waiting arms. It was all over for her seconds later. We lit the lighter at the exact moment that Alice and Jasper carried the remaining pieces of Alec to join Jane's.

We stepped away as the twins went up in flame.

The wolves had really taken the Volturi by surprise. They were probably the main reason besides Bella's shield that the tide seemed to have turned in our favor.

We all moved as a group to join back in the fight, when suddenly we were faced with Aro and his special bodyguard. Renata's powers did not confuse and deflect attacks any longer. Her fighting skills were really no match for the four of us.

We advanced as one on Aro. 'Your reign of terror is at an end, Aro.' I hissed his name.

'Too long did you keep me by your side, obsessed with the future.' Alice's small body trembled with her barely suppressed anger. 'You were blind to what was happening in front of you.'

He began to tremble. 'My friends…my friends…I am so sorry for this grave misunderstanding that has occurred between us.'

Jasper's voice, incredibly calm, answered. 'Oh, there was no mistake on our part Aro. The mistake was yours. You never stopped once to consider that some people would rather die on their feet than live on their knees.'

Aro's mouth moved soundlessly as he hastily tried to back away. 'But I gave all these countless centuries of my life to keep our people safe! That is all I've ever done! I gave all that I ever had selflessly to ensure our continued existence!'

Bella frowned, and I could hear the faintest hint of sympathy in her voice. 'I am sorry Aro, but you have abused the power and trust put into you by our people. What I do now, I do it for Sophie and her love, for Corin and for all the other vampires like them. You did not give them a second chance, nor will one now be given you.'

Aro's screams were terrible as we tore his ancient body to pieces.

The battle was winding down all around us.

I saw from a distance the end of the last of the Volturi's leaders. Liam and Garrett advanced slowly and cautiously toward the frail, ancient vampire who had hung back during the entire fight. Marcus's eyes finally opened wide right before the end.

It was as if all this time he had been forced to sit through a very dull movie, a movie that he had had no interest in from the start. But now, it was over, and he had woke with a start, realizing that it was finally time to go. His mouth fell into a smile, and I was certain I heard his mind whisper one soft, loving word before Liam and Garrett tore into him. _Didyme._

And then it was all over. Our entire force that had fought on the roof of the Volturi's castle had survived.

Bella smiled tremulously up at me and suddenly I felt myself roughly embraced. Carlisle grinned at me and clapped me on the back. 'Good to have you back, son.'

Esme ran to me and rapidly we were all hugging and talking at the same time.

Off to the side was a small group of about five Volturi guards that had given themselves up. Of course Carlisle had accepted their unconditional surrender. They stood huddled together with the Irish coven keeping a close eye on them.

The wolves had finally calmed down sufficiently to shift back. I turned to approach the wolves to give them my profound thanks when all of a sudden one of the grey shapes broke away from the others.

He ripped out of Siobhan's grasping arms and hurtled straight for Bella.

In the second it took him to reach her I recognized that it was Demetri. He snarled, a sound of pure hatred, as he knocked into Bella and scooped her into his arms. I didn't even have time to think as he hurtled with her toward the edge of the roof. He was going to go over the side with her!

My body reacted instinctively. Everyone else stood as if frozen. I was two steps behind Demetri as he took a flying leap off the side with Bella still in his arms. I didn't break stride as I leapt out into thin air behind them.

My mind recognized that it would be about a twenty five story drop to the ground. I knew Demetri would make sure that neither he nor Bella survived the fall.

We flew through the air toward the ground at a startling speed. Bella's arms stretched out behind Demetri, grasping at me and willing me toward her. Her eyes were terrified.

I flattened my body as much as I could, keeping my arms tucked tight into my side to reduce all air resistance.

I could tell that I was slowly gaining on them, but I didn't know if I could reach them before Demetri drove Bella into the ground and scattered her to pieces.

My brain was working faster than my body was falling. I realized that I was within reach of the stone castle wall and I kicked out with my feet against it. It gave me the boost I needed to catch Bella and Demetri.

My hand brushed against Bella's. I pulled myself down. We were now impossibly close to the ground. There was only one thing to do. I pulled Bella roughly from Demetri's grasp and held her close to me as I quickly situated my body in between her and the ground. I held her protectively in my arms and squeezed my eyes shut tightly. I think she screamed.

And after I had just convinced myself that Bella and I were now equals, here I was, at the very last, putting myself, quite literally, in between her and danger. That was the last thought I had before we hit the ground.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Twilight

_It's twilight. _

The sun had just set on Volterra. The city had plunged into momentary darkness, and then one by one the regular nighttime city lights had flickered to life. The people of the city had hurried home a little faster this night. There were all kinds of stories flittering through the streets.

A couple who had been picnicking in the open fields outside the city had heard wolves howling all day. Wolves were not unusual to this part of the country, but they had never before been so active during broad daylight.

A group of children swore to their playmates and families that they had seen several people and large bears scale the huge city wall in the late afternoon. The parents' all put their children's story down to overactive imaginations.

Yet they had heard the weird, rolling thunder that had boomed out over the city around dinnertime. It had echoed and bounced around the narrow city streets. Some people were sure that the thunder was not coming from the heavens itself but from the tallest buildings in the city itself.

And no one could miss the weird colored smoke that rose from the top of the castle.

_It's the safest time of day for us. _

The fight was over for the small group of people huddled on the tallest tower of the castle. They had just finished piling all the extra pieces onto the fire. Several were peering anxiously down the side of the tower.

_The easiest time. But also the saddest, in a way…the end of another day, the return of the night. _

Couples clung to one another on the tallest tower. Then, two by two, they seemed to swallow some unimaginable fear and they slowly left the heights, climbing down to see what they would fine at the bottom.

_Darkness is so predictable, don't you think?_

**Jasper's Point of View**

The cost had been too great. I held Alice's hand tightly as we hurried down the tower stairs.

Eleazar and Carmen…Irina…I swallowed hard. Emmett and Rosalie…and now maybe Edward and Bella.

I dropped Alice's hand and slipped my arm around her waist. I let my head droop so I could inhale the scent of her hair deeply. A shudder tore through me. Here I was, exalting in the fact that Alice was alive and with me. And all of our brothers and sisters were most likely dead.

Alice glanced up and met my eyes. She whispered, 'I can't see anything. The wolves are still with us. But I know how you feel.'

The wolves were right behind Carlisle and Esme behind us on the stairs. They were just as concerned about Edward and Bella as we were.

The steps we had to descend to get to the bottom of the tower were like one of those nightmares. The ones where the stairs just seem to go on forever and ever. And you don't really want to get to the bottom because you're afraid of what you'll find, but you know that you can't stop.

None of us knew what to think about the plunge from the tower. Usually that height would not be difficult for a vampire to manage. But Demetri was holding onto Bella with the intent to smash her to pieces when they hit the ground.

It was impossible to guess at what had happened.

Finally the nightmare of the stairs was behind us and we all fled at top speed to the crash point.

I couldn't have tried to smooth the tumultuous moods around me even if I had been able to try. I couldn't even keep my own emotions in check.

And then there it was. Right in front of us was a huge gaping chasm in the ground. My courage failed me at that point and I stopped and looked away.

Alice pulled out of my grasp and ran ahead. I let her go. My whole body was trembling. I was so ashamed of myself, but I couldn't force my feet to move one more step.

I had grown so close to Edward while we were imprisoned. I had gone from hating him to admiring him. If he was gone now…I couldn't even think of it.

Time had come to a standstill for me when I heard the best sound in the world. Alice squealed in delight. She was climbing out of the hole clinging to Bella with one arm and Edward to the other.

I closed my eyes for one brief moment and hissed. Then I was running forward with everyone else to jump on Bella and Edward.

I grinned at my brother and ruffled his hair. He tried to frown at me but his grin broke through anyway. 'How did you get out of this one?'

He motioned to the chasm. 'Finally found something Demetri is good for. Breaking people's falls.'

Siobhan and Maggie jumped down to take care of Demetri's remains while the rest of us went on hugging and talking excitedly.

One of the biggest shocks of the night came when Jacob approached Edward and embraced him. Then Bella flung herself at the usually reserved Leah who surprised me by actually smiling and returning Bella's hug.

Edward suddenly pushed Jacob away and stared intently toward the castle. Jacob's face started to crumple until he followed Edward's gaze.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was Rosalie, carrying Emmett.

We all stood stock still, not daring to move, as Rosalie came slowly toward us.

Rosalie's face was almost black from dirt and Emmett's face turned to look at all of us. A slow grin formed on his lips.

'She saved me, musta fought off four Volturi on her own.'

Everyone was rushing to Rosalie and Emmett.

I could hardly believe it. We were safe from the Volturi. They could never touch any of us again. We had suffered horrible losses. But it was over.

* * *

Coming up: my story is just about done. Thanks to all who have encouraged me and stuck through to the end. I will be writing an epilogue where I will try to make up for all the doom and gloom of most of the story. Let me know what you think!


	16. Chapter 16

Epilogue: Another Wedding

**Edward's Point of View**

I grabbed Bella's arm and pulled her tight against my side. My arms wrapped around her for the briefest of moments and then I ruffled her hair and grinned at her half hearted attempts to push me away.

A gasp of shock from behind me made me immediately straighten up and put on my best good boy smile as I glanced back at my sisters and brothers.

Alice shook a finger at me and groaned. 'Edward, you know it took me all morning to get Bella's hair to look like that. You've positively ruined it in three seconds.'

She skipped up to Bella and her hands were a blur of speed as Bella tried to squirm away. 'You're just as impossible as you were when you were human, Bella.' Alice theatrically sighed.

She cast a pleading look over her shoulder. 'Jasper, will you come hold her down?'

His happy smile immediately faded, his eyes widening as he held his hands up. 'You know I'd walk to the ends of the earth for you Alice, but playing beautician's assistant? That's asking a bit much.'

Alice stuck her tongue out at Jasper and shook her head. 'That's all right, this is probably as good as its going to get.'

'Children, please.' Esme and Carlisle had stopped ahead of us.

Edward frowned. 'Mom, its utterly absurd to call us children, how many times do I have to tell you? I am older than you, after all.'

Esme smiled. 'As long as you insist on behaving like children, then that is what I will call you.'

Carlisle checked the expensive watch on his wrist. 'Esme is right, we are going to be late. You know how special this occasion is.'

We all started up the path again, Carlisle and Esme setting the pace.

Alice was still fussing with Bella's hair as we walked. Jasper whirled on his heel and started walking backwards, facing Emmett and Rosalie, who were noticeably lagging behind.

Jasper grinned evilly and crossed his arms across his chest. 'What's the matter Emmett? Surely the wolves have better things to occupy themselves today than mocking you.'

I rolled my eyes. Here we go again, the last thing we needed was to show up with Emmett and Jasper's clothes in tatters after they get into another fight.

After we had all traveled back to Forks following the battle with the Volturi (courtesy of their own former private jet) Emmett had been moody and aloof for days and had not joined in any of our celebrations. Then he had disappeared completely for an entire day. When he had returned he'd locked himself in his room.

Not even Rosalie had known what was bothering him until Seth had come for a visit. Seth had solemnly retold the story of when Emmett first came to the wolves to ask for help to rescue us.

As the story went on, his solemnity began to show cracks and laughter started to leak out. By the time he caught us up to date with Emmett's story he was howling with laughter.

Apparently Emmett had felt the need to honor his promise to the wolves and had gone to La Push to offer himself in exchange for their help in rescuing his family. By this time the two wolf packs had reconciled and were living side by side.

Emmett had asked Jacob to call all the wolves together and then he had announced that he was prepared to die to fulfill his promise. All of the wolves had stood, stunned into silence. Then Leah had started to howl with laughter. One by one, all the other wolves joined in.

Emmett remained standing in the middle of the two packs as Jacob approached, trying to stifle his laughter. Jacob informed Emmett that the wolves had no plans to hold him to his former pledge. Leah added that they wouldn't dream of killing Emmett because he provided way too much excitement.

Ever since Jasper and I had not stopped reenacting Emmett's self sacrificing actions. More than one fight had resulted from our exaggerated retellings and it looked like today was going to be no different.

Then Rosalie put her arm lightly on Emmett's and tugged. His gaze quickly flashed down to her. His eyes took their time before meeting hers. Rosalie was dressed sensationally, as always. She wore a skin tight blood red dress. It was sleeveless and fell to her ankles, though there were two very generous slits along either leg.

I couldn't help but hear Emmett's thoughts as all knowledge of Jasper's taunting quickly melted away as he lost himself into Rosalie's eyes. She gave him a quick seductive pout and slipped her arm into his and got him walking up the path.

They did look stunning next to one another, he in his immaculately fitted white suit and her in blood red.

I grinned and laughed a little. Then again, I think we all looked stunning. Cullens knew how to dress, after all.

Carlisle was dressed in an immaculate dark Armani suit, Esme in a subdued cream dress beside him.

Alice…well Alice was wearing something that was high fashion, I had no doubt. It was a short yellow dress, tight at the top and flowing at the bottom where it hung around her knees. Jasper was dressed in a dark pinstripe suit and had just offered her his arm.

But who could have eyes for any other members of my family when they saw Bella? She was wearing a modest, midnight blue dress…but wait, the dress may have been modest, but the way my Bella was wearing it was not modest at all.

I slipped my hands into my pockets and sidled up next to her. My lips barely moved as I whispered for her ears only. 'That dress isn't fooling anyone, Bella.'

Her light butterscotch eyes gazed up at me, her eyelashes flutteringly innocently.

'I'm not sure what you mean Edward.'

I took a quick step closer to her and lowered my head so that my lips were right next to hers. I spoke very slowly and softly, my lips moving within an inch of hers but never touching them. 'You're utterly dazzling.'

I felt her body melt against me and her trembling lips sought contact with mine. Then my head cracked into hers, ours noses colliding roughly. I whipped around just in time to be hit with another snowball, this one full in the face.

Emmett was cackling delightedly and was scooping up another snowball while he bounced from one foot to the other, ready to dodge any counter attack.

'Come on Eddie, show me what ya got.'

He hurled another snowball and I nimbly dodged out of the way.

'Oooh, that's right, looks like ya got nothing!'

He dropped the snowball in his hand and howled as a white ball flew in at him from behind me. 'No fair Bella! That's hitting below the belt!'

Jasper had turned in an instant and was quickly dragging Alice along behind him. 'Snowball fight!'

Alice dug in her prodigious heels and turned his flight into a slow crawl. 'Jasper no! The snow will melt and you're going to look horrible!'

Esme quickly turned. 'Not again! Will you children not behave for the five minutes that it takes to get there?'

Rosalie slipped in front of Emmett and lowered his arms. 'Esme's right, I want to get to the wedding and get good seats near the front.'

Jasper frowned and stopped dragging Alice along. 'That's the end of all our fun. No one's going to go up against Rosalie. You'd have to be barking mad to take on the girl who single handedly fought off four Volturi.' He sighed and started trudging back up the path.

I slipped my hand back into Bella's. She smirked up at me. 'I got him for you.' I dipped down and quickly kissed her. 'You sure did.'

I shook my head, snow and water droplets flying off in a cold shower. Laughter escaped from me before I could stop it. Alice was fuming ahead of me, mad that I was the only person she'd ever met whose hair looked better the messier it got.

We all continued up the path in pairs. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.

Finally we were at the break in the path and came out upon a breathtaking scene. It had been one of those very rare winter days in Washington that it had actually snowed. And even more amazing, the snow had actually stuck. The whole world was covered in an untouched white blanket that was sparkling in the winter sunlight.

There were white chairs set up along the La Push beach and an intricately carved wooden arch at the head of them that was sprinkled all over with delicate white flowers.

Bella leaned up to whisper in my ear. 'Jacob made the archway himself, it took him a really long time but it's so beautiful.'

I had to agree. The only evidence I had ever seen of Jacob's wood working ability was the little wolf charm he had carved for Bella's bracelet, but the archway was amazing.

There were a lot of people milling around, most of them residents of the reservation. Charlie was sitting in the front row with Sue and he quickly waved us over. Bella smiled and led the way. After we had escaped from the Volturi Bella had insisted on reconnecting with Charlie.

At first Charlie had been shocked at Bella's appearance, but Alice had gone along and had quickly launched into a story on how she was attending cosmetology school and she had been using Bella as her guinea pig. After about five minutes of Alice babbling about makeup and hair techniques Charlie's eyes had begun to glass over. Bella threw in a convincing trip and dropped things every once in a while around her dad, and while he was suspicious that something was different, he was so happy to have Bella back in his life that he didn't pry too much.

The smile slipped from my face as I realized that Charlie was now turning his notorious scowl on me. I almost sighed. What had I done this time?

'You're going to get pneumonia Bella! If you could only see how pale you are right now! I don't care what half the crazy people decided to wear at this wedding.' He gestured wildly around him, and my smile started to slip back on its own.

A majority of the wedding guests consisted of vampires and werewolves, who were all oblivious to the cold, and had therefore shown up without long sleeves, coats or any forms of winter attire.

I quickly slipped out of my black suit jacket and slipped it over Bella's shoulders. She pulled it around herself and faked a shiver. 'Brr, your right dad, I just now noticed how cold it is out here.'

I rolled my eyes and hoped Charlie could not see. Becoming a vampire had not strengthened Bella's acting skills in the slightest.

Luckily he could not berate Bella anymore. The wedding was about to start and he sheepishly reminded his daughter that he had been asked to walk the bride down the aisle and grumpily skulked away.

Tanya, Kate and Garrett slipped in at the last moment and found seats behind us. We all greeted each other warmly and Emmett squinted at Garrett's eyes. 'Are those the real deal yet?'

Garrett shook his head and Kate chipped in. 'Not yet, but we're getting there. Should be another few months.'

Garrett frowned. 'It's brutal, really, I don't know how any of you survived it.'

_Oh, I think I know how you're surviving it._ Rosalie was glancing coyly back and forth at Kate and Garrett.

Any further inquiries were interrupted by the beginning of the ceremony. Not the traditional organ or piano, but Jared on his guitar played the wedding march.

While we had been catching up with the Denali vampires Jacob and his best men…or should that be best dogs? Quil, Embry and Seth had had taken their places under the arch. Jacob briefly tugged at the neck of his suit, looking slightly uncomfortable in the formal clothes.

Billy was in the front row, camera flashing away.

The guitar pitched into a slightly higher key and the audience turned as one.

Charlie was escorting the bride down the aisle. Leah was dressed in a very plain white gown. Yet it was all the more gorgeous for its plainness, and her dark beauty radiated out.

Jacob and Leah only had eyes for one another throughout the entire ceremony. It was short, but very sweet.

When it was all over the audience quickly headed for the heated tents that had been set up for the reception along the beach. My family held back and said our goodbyes to the Denali clan, the wedding had proved to be a bit too much for Garrett's self control so they were all heading out.

We finally made it into the reception tent. Jacob immediately spotted us and came bounding over to scoop Bella up into a bear hug. Leah and I smiled politely at each other.

Jacob turned to me a bit hesitantly. 'Leah and I have already had our first dance…is it all right with you if I have a dance with Bella?' I was surprised to find that none of my old jealousy surfaced. I smiled tightly. 'Be my guest. But if you're going to steal my wife for a dance, then I'm going to have to steal yours.'

I bowed formally and held out a questioning hand to Leah. She smirked at Jacob and took my hand. Jacob and Bella went running to the dance floor like nothing had ever gone wrong in their friendship.

I led Leah out to the dance floor as a slow dance started. For the first minute of the dance we just concentrated on the steps, her eyes flitting around from side to side like a nervous bird's, my eyes were set on a point above her head.

We were the absolute portrait of awkwardness.

After what seemed like an exceedingly long time Leah gave me a half smile. 'You don't smell nearly so bad as you used to, outside in the snow and all…'

I gave her a charming smile as if she had paid me the highest compliment. 'Thank you.'

She sighed. 'Edward…I…I never really thanked you and Bella for coming after me. If you two hadn't shown up I don't know if Jacob and I would be here today.'

Her eyes tentatively stole up to my face.

This time my returning smile was genuine. 'You don't need to thank me Leah. You were willing to give up your life to save mine and Bella's. It is I who is forever indebted to you.'

She frowned. 'Lets just call it even, I don't like all this forever garbage, forever for us could be a very long time.'

I laughed lightly. 'All right, we're even. It's a good thing we're ok with each other, because it looks like Bella and Jacob have decided to be friends again.'

She turned her head and followed my gaze and gave a snort of laughter. Bella and Jacob were clearing a good sized space on the dance floor. They were performing some sort of ridiculous fast dance that was totally in odds with the slow song that was playing, laughing their heads off.

I couldn't help but snort too. 'Kind of looks like they're in pain, doesn't it?'

Leah nodded. 'Jacob's _going_ to be in pain if he thinks he is going to dance with me like that.'

I grinned. If anyone was going to keep Jacob Black in check it was certainly her.

The slow song was abruptly cut off when the microphone was abducted by Quil. He was whooping and shouting along with what looked like the rest of the wolf pack.

He gave a really short, mostly incomprehensible speech about hoping that Jacob and Leah have a wonderful life together. Because, after all, if Jacob could fix half the old junkers that he had then certainly he might be able to fix Leah too.

Leah's eyes were shooting daggers at him and I think he noticed, because he abruptly dropped the stolen microphone and shouted. 'Cliff diving!!' Then took off at a dead sprint out of the tent.

Embry, Seth, Jared and Paul all went tearing off after him whooping and shedding articles of clothing as they went.

Before I could even look for Bella Jasper and Emmett had appeared on either side of me and each grabbed an arm.

Emmett grinned at me. 'Cliff diving Edward! Come on!'

He and Jasper bodily drug me out of the tent. I shook my head as I turned and started to run with them. 'You two are in so much trouble when Rosalie and Alice find out that you've ruined your suits.'

Jasper threw his bow tie behind him and slipped out of his jacket as we rounded a turn in the beach.

Suddenly a light pressure touched my back and Alice vaulted overtop me to run in front of Jasper.

'We're not gonna be mad Edward, we're coming to!'

I did a double take as I saw Rosalie slip up behind Emmett. 'This is turning out to be a weird day.'

A grin split my face from ear to ear as I smelled a new, delicious scent on the air. 'Not you too, Bella! You do remember what happened the last time, don't you?'

She punched me playfully on the arm as she caught up, Jacob and Leah not far behind.

'This time's different. You're here to protect me.'

My grin couldn't grow any wider as I quickly scooped Bella up into my arms and tossed her onto my back. 'Hold on tight!'

She laughed softly in my ear. 'This isn't exactly necessary, Edward.'

I turned my head slightly back, angling it towards her so that I could gaze into her eyes. 'Just humor me, please?' I saw that old, glazed look creeping over her face.

I faced forward and smirked. Oh Edward Cullen, you still got it.

We reached the high cliff top just as the leading wolves were hurling themselves off, competing to see who could do the most elaborate jump.

Jasper was stripped down to his suit pants and he stopped abruptly at the edge and bowed formally to Alice and held out a hand to her. 'Ma'am? If I may?'

Alice daintily kicked her heels off and took Jasper's hand. 'Of course.'

They both leapt together off the cliff, hand in hand.

Emmett, still fully dressed, scooped Rosalie off her feet and took a running head start before hurtling them both off the cliff as Rosalie shrieked.

I paused and looked behind me at Jacob and Leah as Bella clung to my back. 'You two coming?'

Jacob grinned and shook his head. 'Nah, I think we're gonna get started on our honeymoon.'

I raised an eyebrow.

His grin grew wider. 'Well, neither one of us really has a lot of money, so we decided to go backpacking in the wilds of Canada.'

Leah grinned back at him. 'Without the backpacks, that is. Oh, and Bella? Could you make sure my dress gets back safely to my mom? It was hers.'

Bella nodded. 'Sure, of course I will.'

Jacob gave a small wave to Bella, then took Leah's hand and led her past the tree line. Leah's arm reached out with the dress and laid it softly on a branch.

Less than a minute later we heard two far off wolf howls.

Finally I let Bella slip from my back. I methodically undressed down to my pants, carefully folding each item of clothing so I could retrieve it later. I had just removed both of my shoes and was in the process of placing a sock neatly in each when Bella's dress went sailing past my face.

All thought of neatness forgotten, I whirled around and raked my eyes up and down Bella.

She smirked and put her hands on her hips. 'Race you to the bottom.'

She flitted quickly to the cliff edge and gracefully dove off, I was just a second behind her. Not because I was slower…I just enjoyed the view more from behind.

As we hit the water our brothers and sisters and the wolves were climbing out to go again. I took the opportunity to grab Bella and drag her far out into the water.

When I decided that we had gone far enough I pulled her to the surface.

The snowflakes were still falling, melting into the rough waters as they hit.

I took both of Bella's hands into mine and gazed deeply into her eyes.

Her eyes slowly fell shut as we both leaned in for a soft kiss. I pulled back just far enough so that I could speak.

'You know Bella…vampires are right at home underwater.'

She forced her face into a shocked expression. 'Why Edward Cullen, I have no idea what you're trying to say.'

I gave her that charming half smile that I knew she couldn't resist.

I held out a hand to her. 'Ready for our next adventure?'

Bella laughed loudly and darted in for a quick kiss. 'Mmm, if this is your idea of adventure, I hope we have many more.'

I pulled her to me and kissed her deeply as we slipped under the water.


End file.
